[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               MARKING NATIONAL SAVE FOR RETIREMENT WEEK

  (Ms. SCHWARTZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHWARTZ. I rise today to recognize National Save for Retirement 
Week, which started on Sunday and will last until Sunday, October 25th. 
This week encourages Americans to prioritize the important 
responsibility of saving for their retirement. I am proud that earlier 
this year the House of Representatives passed my resolution marking the 
importance of this week.
  Not enough Americans are putting money away for retirement. While 
more Americans started to save recently, we do not know yet whether 
this will be sustained.
  According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, less than two-
thirds of workers or their spouses are currently saving for retirement, 
and the actual amount of retirement savings lags behind the amounts 
families will need to fund their retirement years. The average 401(k) 
account has just over $45,000, far below the amount needed to finance 
retirement for most Americans.
  So even in these challenging financial times, this week serves as an 
important reminder that for all of us it is never too early or too late 
to begin to save for retirement.

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