AARP Georgia Urges Creation of Public-Private Retirement Savings Partnership

On February 22, AARP volunteer activists from across Georgia converged at the State Capitol in Atlanta to urge state legislators to create a new public-private retirement savings partnership to help Georgians save their own money for the future.

Today, a secure retirement is out of reach for more than half of Georgia’s private sector workforce, especially those who work for themselves or small businesses. That’s over 2 million Georgia workers who do not have a way to save for retirement through their job. This leaves them unprepared to support themselves in the future and more likely to have Social Security as their only source of retirement income.

That over-reliance also puts taxpayers on the hook to ensure that retirees have their basic needs met through on public programs like Medicaid and SNAP.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We know that people are 15 times more likely to save if they can do so at work.

That’s why AARP Georgia supports the creation of a public-private retirement savings partnership—overseen by the state and run by a private-sector financial services provider—that allows workers to easily save via payroll deduction so they can provide for themselves in the future, rather than facing dependency on public assistance.  
Benefits of a public-private retirement savings partnership would include:

• Workers build their own retirement security: Through a direct payroll deduction, workers can contribute as much or as little as they want to their account. They own their account, and it can go from job to job with them.
  
• Supports businesses: Businesses get a no-cost way to offer an important employee benefit—that will also help them stay competitive in today’s tight job market.
  
• Saves taxpayer dollars: Offering employees a simple way to save means fewer Georgians will need to rely on public assistance programs in retirement—having the potential to save taxpayers as much as $52.5 million over just 15 years.
  
• Self-sustaining: The partnerships are participant funded after initial start-up costs are paid back to the state. The funds cannot be comingled with public pension dollars, nor can they add to Georgia’s public pension liability.

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