The problem of offering a retirement benefits plan to the low-wage earners have been a vital one since many years. The Department of Labor (DOL) seems to be paying some attention to it. In the latest development, the agency has revealed that it will be funding research aimed at finding ways to provide a steady retirement income to people who have no savings. The agency also shared that many of the SME workers and the part-time workers don’t have access to a retirement plan.
The Huge Grant to Support Retirement Benefits Research
The amount of money approved by the Department of Labor (DOL) is $100,000 that would be in grant form in order to facilitate the research into seeking new retirement benefits plans for people who fall into the low-wage earner’s category. The grants are being supervised by the Women’s Bureau. They are also being kept under the latest Portable Retirement Benefits Planning Grant Program.
Why is the Research Necessary?
Sharon Block, who currently serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the DOL and Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor recently shared her views on why backing up the research was necessary. She shared that the grants are a part of the Department of Labor efforts to back innovation that can increase the availability of retirement savings plans and that can make the benefits highly portable. She also added that the efforts like these are vital to ensure that more and more Americans can attain retirement security in the ever-changing economic scenario.
Who will be benefited?
If the research garners viable outcomes, all the people who do not have an employer-based retirement plan will benefit. It also includes part-time workers, independent contractors and people working in small organizations.
The Expectations
DOL expects to offer two or four grants to non-profit organizations. Each grant would be about $25,000 to $75,000. In exchange for the grant, the department expects the non-profit organizations to research and create fresh, portable retirement plans. They will also need to discover the legal constraints that may impact the implementation of these plans.
The Bad Situation
The grants offered by DOL to support more access to retirement benefits plans for low-wage and other workers seems to be a good decision considering the fact that one of three workers do not have any retirement saving plan. It is also a fact that about half of the workers working for companies that have less than 50 employees have no retirement plan either. Another fact is that over three-quarters of part-time workers also do not have a retirement plan. These facts were uncovered by DOL.
