2002 National Summit on Retirement Savings
Mel Aaronson,
1^st Vice President, NCPERS

How can we educate and motivate Americans to plan and save for retirement throughout their lifetimes? That question was the focus of a summit on retirement savings held in Washington earlier this year. President Bush and congressional leaders appointed delegates to the summit. They included NCPERS’ 1^st Vice President Mel Aaronson, who summarized the purpose and outcome of the summit.

Aaronson reported that the theme of the event was “Saving for a Lifetime: Advancing Generational Prosperity.” Encouraging saving is critical, he said, because while 70% of Americans are confident about their retirement resources, few workers have a realistic estimate of their income needs.

Research reviewed at the summit reveals how unprepared most workers are:

• 17% believe they will need less than half of their pre-retirement income to live comfortably in retirement;
• 25% expect they will need 50-99% of their income;
• 46% of all workers have saved less than $50,000, and 15% say they have nothing saved.

Delegates worked in teams to develop reports and recommendations. The teams determined that individuals in each age category need to increase savings to help in retirement years.

More information is available from the summit website (www.saversummit.dol.gov)