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Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date. Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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Washington, D.C. - In an effort to educate Americans about the
importance of saving for retirement, Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman will
join President Clinton and members of Congress for the first National Summit on
Retirement Savings. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. today and Friday, June 5.
The Summit was established by the Savings Are Vital to Everyone's
Retirement Act, which the President signed into law last year. Two other
summits will be held in 2001 and 2005.
"Our message is simple," said Secretary Herman. "It is never too early
and it's never too late to start saving, and every penny counts. The statistics
are sobering, one out of five Americans save nothing for retirement. One out of
two Americans has no pension coverage at work and one out of three workers who
are offered 401(k) plans don't participate. We want to turn those statistics
around so every American worker can look forward to a secure retirement."
Over two hundred participants representing a cross-section of
organizations involved in employee benefits and retirement education will
attend this year's meeting. They will examine the state of retirement savings
and how to best educate Americans about the need to create a secure financial
future. At the Summit's conclusion, delegates will be challenged to spread the
word about the importance of retirement saving through their organizations,
companies and communities.
"This should be a wake-up call," Herman said. "When it comes to saving,
a lot of us may want to hit the snooze button. But if you snooze--you lose."
Since 1995, the Department of Labor has conducted an intense public
education campaign, an effort aimed at ensuring Americans understand the
importance of planning for retirement and have access to tools that will help
them do it. The campaign targets women and minorities both of whom have low
pension coverage rates and small businesses, of which, only one million out of
a total of five million offer some form of pension plan to their employees.
"The SAVER Summit builds on the department's efforts and represents an
historic opportunity for us to spread the retirement savings message to every
American--regardless of age, nationality, income level, or current knowledge of
savings and investing strategies," said Herman."
For more information on the Saver Summit visit the website at
www.saversummit.org.
Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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