Like Many Americans, My Mom Has No Retirement Savings
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/like_many_americans_my_mom_has_no_retire
ment_savings_20151210/
Posted on Dec 10, 2015
By Tiffany Williams / Other Words
One of the many retirement-age Americans, a group that is finding huge
holes in the federal government's "safety net." (Marjan Lazarevski / CC
BY-ND 2.0)
This piece first appeared at Other Words.
"My plan is just to work until I die." That's how my mom sums up her
retirement prospects.
She's worked more than 40 hours a week as a legal secretary in north Florida
for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were kids, we went to
her office every Saturday and entertained ourselves by sliding across the
floor in fancy law firm chairs while our single mom worked overtime in her
cubicle.
She managed to get me into college on a scholarship, and my brother got
there on the GI Bill after a stint in the Army. Yet the American dream still
hasn't quite paid off for her. My mom's one of the 62 percent of Americans
who lives paycheck to paycheck. Even at age 60, she still doesn't have paid
sick leave or vacation time, and she avoids the doctor because she can't
afford her $2,000 deductible.
When I had to undergo a stem cell transplant to treat my stage 4 cancer in
2010, her employer allowed her to take a few days off to help care for me in
Washington, D.C. Because she had no savings, my coworkers at the Institute
for Policy Studies took up a donation drive to cover her travel and time off
work.
My IPS colleagues recently released a report on the retirement gap between
CEOs and workers. They found that nearly half of working age Americans have
no access to retirement plans through their jobs. When I asked my mom about
her own retirement savings, I learned she had nothing at all.
That terrified me.
Thomas8047 / Flickr
My mom isn't bitter about it. She does the best she can with what she has,
and tries to stay healthy. When I asked her permission to share her story,
she was worried that it might sound like she was complaining.
As for me, I felt angry.
The 100 CEOs profiled in this report have nest eggs that are worth more than
$49 million - enough to generate a $277,686 monthly retirement check for the
rest of their lives. My mom's anticipating a Social Security check worth
about $1,200 a month starting five years from now - and year after year we
hear politicians threaten to cut even that.
In fact, millions of Americans rely on the federal government's safety net
to support them in retirement. But the net is fraying as corporations and
their top executives dodge their fair share of the taxes that sustain it.
While they pad their own retirement accounts, people like my mom who work
hard their entire lives could have nothing to show for it.
What can be done?
My colleagues have suggested capping tax-deferred, corporate-sponsored
retirement accounts at $3 million, a move that President Barack Obama
estimated would raise an additional $9 billion of tax revenue over 10 years.
Funds from an annual excise tax on assets greater than $3 million could go
to the Social Security Trust Fund, which would help all workers.
Even with that cap in place, the richest corporate retirees would get
$200,000 a year to live on in retirement. I bet they'd be able to make do.
Here's another good idea: Close the "performance pay" loophole that allows
unlimited corporate tax deductions for executive pay. The Joint Committee on
Taxation estimates that closing this loophole would generate more than $50
billion over 10 years.
My mom and other low-income and middle-class workers shouldn't have to go it
alone. It's time for all of us to stand together and demand fairness in
retirement. I don't want her, or anyone else's parents, to work themselves
into the grave.
http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
Like Many Americans, My Mom Has No Retirement Savings
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/like_many_americans_my_mom_has_no_retire
ment_savings_20151210/
Posted on Dec 10, 2015
By Tiffany Williams / Other Words
One of the many retirement-age Americans, a group that is finding huge holes
in the federal government's "safety net." (Marjan Lazarevski / CC BY-ND 2.0)
This piece first appeared at Other Words.
"My plan is just to work until I die." That's how my mom sums up her
retirement prospects.
She's worked more than 40 hours a week as a legal secretary in north Florida
for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were kids, we went to
her office every Saturday and entertained ourselves by sliding across the
floor in fancy law firm chairs while our single mom worked overtime in her
cubicle.
She managed to get me into college on a scholarship, and my brother got
there on the GI Bill after a stint in the Army. Yet the American dream still
hasn't quite paid off for her. My mom's one of the 62 percent of Americans
who lives paycheck to paycheck. Even at age 60, she still doesn't have paid
sick leave or vacation time, and she avoids the doctor because she can't
afford her $2,000 deductible.
When I had to undergo a stem cell transplant to treat my stage 4 cancer in
2010, her employer allowed her to take a few days off to help care for me in
Washington, D.C. Because she had no savings, my coworkers at the Institute
for Policy Studies took up a donation drive to cover her travel and time off
work.
My IPS colleagues recently released a report on the retirement gap between
CEOs and workers. They found that nearly half of working age Americans have
no access to retirement plans through their jobs. When I asked my mom about
her own retirement savings, I learned she had nothing at all.
That terrified me.
Thomas8047 / Flickr
My mom isn't bitter about it. She does the best she can with what she has,
and tries to stay healthy. When I asked her permission to share her story,
she was worried that it might sound like she was complaining.
As for me, I felt angry.
The 100 CEOs profiled in this report have nest eggs that are worth more than
$49 million - enough to generate a $277,686 monthly retirement check for the
rest of their lives. My mom's anticipating a Social Security check worth
about $1,200 a month starting five years from now - and year after year we
hear politicians threaten to cut even that.
In fact, millions of Americans rely on the federal government's safety net
to support them in retirement. But the net is fraying as corporations and
their top executives dodge their fair share of the taxes that sustain it.
While they pad their own retirement accounts, people like my mom who work
hard their entire lives could have nothing to show for it.
What can be done?
My colleagues have suggested capping tax-deferred, corporate-sponsored
retirement accounts at $3 million, a move that President Barack Obama
estimated would raise an additional $9 billion of tax revenue over 10 years.
Funds from an annual excise tax on assets greater than $3 million could go
to the Social Security Trust Fund, which would help all workers.
Even with that cap in place, the richest corporate retirees would get
$200,000 a year to live on in retirement. I bet they'd be able to make do.
Here's another good idea: Close the "performance pay" loophole that allows
unlimited corporate tax deductions for executive pay. The Joint Committee on
Taxation estimates that closing this loophole would generate more than $50
billion over 10 years.
My mom and other low-income and middle-class workers shouldn't have to go it
alone. It's time for all of us to stand together and demand fairness in
retirement. I don't want her, or anyone else's parents, to work themselves
into the grave.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/minimum_wage_is_not_a_livable_wage_20151
211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/minimum_wage_is_not_a_livable_wage_20151
211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/minimum_wage_is_not_a_livable_wage_20151
211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_potency_of_trumps_pitchfork_populism
_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_potency_of_trumps_pitchfork_populism
_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_potency_of_trumps_pitchfork_populism
_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/audio_robert_scheer_hosts_john_kiriakou
_--_a_whistleblower_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/audio_robert_scheer_hosts_john_kiriakou
_--_a_whistleblower_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/audio_robert_scheer_hosts_john_kiriakou
_--_a_whistleblower_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/supreme_court_on_affirmative_action_5_po
ssible_outcomes_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/supreme_court_on_affirmative_action_5_po
ssible_outcomes_20151211/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/supreme_court_on_affirmative_action_5_po
ssible_outcomes_20151211/ http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
http://www.truthdig.com/about/http://www.truthdig.com/contact/http://www.tru
thdig.com/about/advertising/http://www.truthdig.com/user_agreement/http://ww
w.truthdig.com/privacy_policy/http://www.truthdig.com/about/comment_policy/
C 2015 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.
http://www.hopstudios.com/
http://support.truthdig.com/signup_page/subscribe
http://support.truthdig.com/signup_page/subscribe
http://www.facebook.com/truthdighttp://twitter.com/intent/follow?source=foll
owbutton&variant=1.0&screen_name=truthdighttps://plus.google.com/+truthdight
tp://www.linkedin.com/company/truthdighttp://truthdig.tumblr.com/http://www.
truthdig.com/connect
