A Great Way to Start Saving for the Future

myRA: A Great Way to Start Saving for the Future

This article was originally published by Melissa Koide, guest contributor on May 11, 2015 on the Corporation for Enterprise Development – cfed.org website.

For many people, daily expenses, unexpected costs and just not knowing how to get started can make it difficult to accumulate the assets they need for financial health and security. While we know many Americans can save if they have the opportunity, taking the first step toward saving is not always simple or easy. For many Americans, this is particularly true when trying to save for the long term. Millions of people don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work, while for others, the cost of opening and maintaining an account and concerns about losing money keep them from saving. To help people overcome these barriers and help more Americans start saving for the future, the U.S. Treasury developed myRA, a new way to save that’s simple, safe and affordable.

myRA expands savings opportunities to more Americans

myRA was designed to make it easier to start saving, particularly for those who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. This is especially true for the millions of Americans who are part-time, seasonal, temporary or small business employees. myRA offers individuals a no-fee Roth IRA, in which savings are invested in a new U.S. Treasury bond. myRA accounts have a number of features that make myRA an appealing option to many first-time savers:

• There are no cost or fees to open and maintain an account.
• myRA accounts do not lose money.
• Savers choose how much to contribute each payday.
• If an employee changes jobs, the account stays with him or her.
• Savers can contribute from multiple jobs.
• Contributions to myRA can be withdrawn without taxes or penalties at any time. (Interest earned may be withdrawn without tax and penalty only under certain conditions.)Increasing myRA awarenessAbout the author: Melissa Koide is Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Consumer Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Treasury has been working closely with a group of employers participating in the initial pilot phase of myRA to ensure that the user experience is as simple and straightforward as possible – both for employers and employees. For employers, helping their employees save with myRA is simple. Free myRA materials and resources are available here for employers to share with their staff. Once an employee opens a myRA, employers simply facilitate a payroll deduction into the employee’s account. myRA can be an important part of the asset-building toolkit, but we need your help to spread the word to more organizations, employers and potential savers. We hope you will take a look at the website, share it in your work and network and let us know how we can make sure myRA is reaching people who can use it to build a better future for themselves and their families. Please visit myRA.treasury.gov or call us at 855-406-6972 to learn more about partnering with us to help others learn about myRA and how it can help consumers start building assets for a more secure future.
• By saving with myRA, we hope that new savers will also gain knowledge that can help them down the road, whether they gain access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or continue to save and invest in a private-sector Roth IRA.