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 In details provided by the White House on Wednesday, the
retirement savings proposal would be similar to a Roth Individual
Retirement Account, but with holdings backed by the U.S. government
like savings bonds.
"MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put
in," President Barack Obama said in introducing the program on
Tuesday night in his State of the Union Speech.
Those accounts would be available to households earning no more than
$191,000 a year. Businesses will need to register in the pilot
program by the end of the year for their employees to participate
voluntarily.
Investors would earn a variable interest rate equal to the Thrift
Savings Plan, or TSP, which is available to federal employees.
Contributions could be withdrawn tax-free at any time.
Initial investments could be as low as $25, and contributions as
small as $5 could be made through payroll deductions.
Participants could save up to $15,000, for a maximum of 30 years, in
their accounts before transferring their balances to a
private-sector Roth IRA.
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About half of all workers and 75 percent of part-time workers lack
access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, the White House said.
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; editing by Peter Cooney)
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