Americans Face Diverse and Unknown Risks When Planning for Retirement

New BPC Paper details complexity of the U.S. retirement system through the eyes of four illustrative households

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Oct 07, 2014, 11:31 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new staff paper from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) out today highlights the risks that Americans face as they head into retirement. A Diversity of Risks: The Challenge of Retirement Preparedness in America explains the complexity of the U.S. retirement system through the eyes of four illustrative households. This paper is the first of several highlighting issues that BPC's Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings will address.

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The paper highlights typical challenges that many Americans confront when planning for retirement. These include lacking access to workplace retirement plans, insufficient savings or uninformed investments and planning for contingencies during retirement.

By examining the retirement preparedness of four illustrative families and the risks they face as they progress toward retirement, the BPC paper shows this complexity through a different lens. The four families include: one covered by a private-sector defined benefit pension; a second with no access to a retirement plan at work; a third that has access to defined contribution retirement plans at work, but, for a variety of reasons, is not contributing much and is likely to quickly exhaust their savings in retirement; and, finally, a family that is contributing a substantial portion of their income to workplace and personal retirement accounts but is unprotected against unforeseen expenses or outliving their savings.

"We hope this paper will begin to inform policymakers, the media and the public about the complex retirement system that confronts many Americans," said Steve Bell, senior director of economic policy at BPC. "While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to our retirement security challenges, policymakers should proactively and thoughtfully address these issues for current and future generations of retirees."

BPC also released this related infographic today. Click here to view and share the full graphic.

Led by former Senator Kent Conrad and W.L. Ross Vice Chairman Jim Lockhart, the commission will release policy recommendations to improve savings and retirement preparedness in 2015.

About the Bipartisan Policy Center
Founded in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a non-profit organization that drives principled solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation and respectful dialogue. With projects in multiple issue areas, BPC combines politically balanced policymaking with strong, proactive advocacy and outreach. For more information, please visit www.bipartisanpolicy.org.

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SOURCE Bipartisan Policy Center