USCM Adopts Resolution to Expand Access to Retirement Savings Plans

USCM Adopts Resolution to Expand Access to Retirement Savings Plans

Published on June 07, 2022

During the closing session of their annual meeting, The United States Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution sponsored by Mayor Michael B. Hancock, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean J. Trantalis, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Tempe Mayor Corey Woods, College Park Mayor Patrick L. Wojahn, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway calling on federal policymakers to strengthen retirement security for low- and middle-income American workers. The resolution urges Congress to look to the highly successful Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), currently available only to federal workers and members of the military, as a model for expanding savings opportunities and improving incentives for workers left behind by the current system.

"The country's mayors are calling on Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis to invest in hardworking low- and middle-income Americans by ensuring they have access to high-quality savings plans and well-designed incentives that encourage work and savings," Mayor Hancock said. "The opportunity to save for a fulfilling retirement will help to level the playing field for those working hardest and ensure multi-generational financial security for families across the country"

While Denver and other cities across Colorado have emerged as leading enclaves for economic growth and dynamism, Colorado recently ranked second-highest in the nation in asset wealth inequality-a measure of inequality comprised in part by retirement savings balances-and more than half of workers in Colorado earning less than $50,000 lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Federal tax incentives for retirement savings are heavily skewed to high-earning workers; meanwhile, the median retirement savings balance among working-age Americans is $0, and nearly half of households risk seeing a cut to their standard of living during retirement. You can view the full text of the US Conference of Mayors resolution here.

• Mayor