Bipartisan majority likes ‘Retirecare,’ survey finds

Enrolling working Americans in a government-sponsored retirement plan is a broadly popular idea.

More than three-quarters of American voters (78%), Republicans and Democrats alike, believe that all working Americans should have access to a retirement savings plan along the lines of the federal Thrift Savings Plan, which is open to government employees and members of the military.

That was a key finding of a survey conducted for the Economic Innovation Group, or EIG, by Echelon Insights.

Support also was strong for a proposal from the EIG under which the government would match retirement contributions for low- and middle-income working Americans who participate in a federal retirement savings plan. The proposal garnered more support (63%) than other wealth-building plans, such as universal basic income (47%), child allowances (41%) and baby bonds (40%), the EIG said in a release.

Other survey results pointed to the dismal state of the nation’s retirement savings. For example, one-third of American voters are not confident that they’ll have enough savings to live comfortably when they retire, and of the 41% of American voters who do not have a retirement savings account, 44% say they do not have money to save after expenses.