A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Retirement Security Month, including raising public awareness of the various tax-preferred retirement vehicles, increasing personal financial literacy, and engaging the people of the United States on the keys to success in achieving and maintaining retirement security throughout their lifetimes.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 743 Supporting the goals and ideals of National Retirement Security Month, including raising public awareness of the various tax-preferred retirement vehicles, increasing personal financial literacy, and engaging the people of the United States on the keys to success in achieving and maintaining retirement security throughout their lifetimes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. ENZI (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. ALEX- ANDER, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. BARRASSO) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Supporting the goals and ideals of National Retirement Secu- rity Month, including raising public awareness of the various tax-preferred retirement vehicles, increasing per- sonal financial literacy, and engaging the people of the United States on the keys to success in achieving and maintaining retirement security throughout their life- times. Whereas people in the United States are living longer, and the cost of retirement is increasing significantly; Whereas Social Security remains the bedrock of retirement income for the great majority of the people of the United VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR743.ATS SR743 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 743 ATS States but was never intended by Congress to be the sole source of retirement income for families; Whereas data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute indicates that, in the United States— (1) up to 40 percent of households in which the head of household is between the ages of 35 and 64 are likely to run out of money in retirement; and (2) the amount that workers have saved for retire- ment is much less than the amount those workers need to adequately fund their retirement years; Whereas the financial literacy of workers in the United States is important so that those workers understand the need to save for retirement; Whereas saving for retirement is a key component of overall financial health and security during retirement years, and the importance of financial literacy in planning for retire- ment must be advocated; Whereas many workers may not— (1) be aware of their various options in saving for retirement; or (2) have focused on the importance of, and need for, saving for retirement and successfully achieving retire- ment security; Whereas, although many employees have access to defined benefit and defined contribution plans through their em- ployers to assist such employees in preparing for retire- ment, many of those employees may not be taking advan- tage of those plans at all or to the full extent allowed by Federal law; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR743.ATS SR743 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 743 ATS Whereas saving for retirement is necessary even during eco- nomic downturns or market declines, underscoring the importance of continued contributions; Whereas all workers, including public and private sector em- ployees, employees of tax-exempt organizations, and self- employed individuals, can benefit from developing per- sonal budgets and financial plans that include retirement savings strategies that take advantage of tax-preferred retirement savings vehicles; Whereas effectively and sustainably withdrawing retirement resources throughout an individual’s retirement years is as important and crucial as saving and accumulating funds for retirement; and Whereas the month of October 2020, has been designated as ‘‘National Retirement Security Month’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 2 Retirement Security Month, including raising public 3 awareness of the importance of saving adequately for 4 retirement; 5 (2) acknowledges the need to raise public 6 awareness of the variety of tax-preferred retirement 7 vehicles that are used by many people in the United 8 States, but remain underutilized; and 9 (3) calls on States, localities, schools, univer- 10 sities, nonprofit organizations, businesses, other en- 11 tities, and the people of the United States to observe 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR743.ATS SR743 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 743 ATS National Retirement Security Month with appro- 1 priate programs and activities, with the goal of in- 2 creasing the retirement savings and personal finan- 3 cial literacy of all people in the United States and 4 enhancing the retirement security of the people of 5 the United States. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Oct 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR743.ATS SR743 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS