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AARP Launches Campaign to Boost 401(k) Enrollment

The Savannah Morning News, 10/16/07

Abstract:

On the day the nation's first baby boomer applied for Social Security leading a retirement tsunami, AARP, the senior citizens advocacy group, launched a campaign Monday to boost enrollment in 401(k) retirement plans.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, considered the first baby boomer because she was born moments after midnight, Jan. 1, 1946, applied for her government benefit as she turns 62, the earliest age for a check.

The huge number of baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964 not only represents a demographic shift, but also a turnaround in retirement planning. The older boomers, like many of their parents, are likely to collect company pensions with a fixed check coming in every month that was offered as a job benefit requiring no effort by the employees.

Younger workers are rarely so lucky. Companies looking to save money began changing 20 years ago to plans that require most of the saving to be done by the workers, so-called defined contribution plans like the 401(k)...

...The problem, said AARP officials, is that too many younger workers have just assumed their retirement would include those regular pension checks when they should have been socking away part of each paycheck. And Social Security was never designed to provide more than a small supplement to private savings.

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