On July 22, 2014, Sean O’Leary and Ted Boettner from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and Angela Vance from the WV-AARP presented the benefits of Voluntary Retirement Accounts (VERA) to the Our Children Our Future Policy Workshop in Clarksburg, WV. View the full presentation.
Overview – The Retirement Problem
- Retirement Income Deficit – $6.6 trillion
- 38.3 million working-age households (45%) have no retirement account assets
- Four out of five working households have saved less than one year of income for retirement
- The median retirement savings balance for households nearing retirement is only $12,000
- Leading causes of poverty among elderly
- Lack of retirement assets a potential drain on future budgets
