Quick links+
The Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) recently hosted a day-long symposium called “Preparing for Retirement: Individual and Collective Efforts” at the AFL-CIO’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Clear here for symposium resources and materials.
The symposium brought together government officials, labor movement leaders, policy experts, Social Security and pension advocates, academics, economists, attorneys, and people who work in retirement security and social insurance.
“Retirement security is under attack,” said ARA President and retired IAM General Secretary-Treasurer Robert Roach Jr. “This is very important because a lot of us, in my family and in yours, are just not ready. You need a plan. We’re going to give you the tools to develop a plan.”
Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65. ARA is trying to help financially prepare these workers for leaving the workforce.
“One of our priorities, as a union, is to ensure that members are able to retire comfortably,” said IAM General Secretary/Treasurer Dora Cervantes. “We fight for it in the contracts we negotiate, but we also encourage members to take advantage of resources like ARA and this symposium to learn about how to put their hard-earned money to work for a happy retirement.”
Ilana Boivie, Senior Research Economist in the IAM Strategic Resources Department, spoke to attendees about defined contribution plans and the importance of social security.
“Unionization matters. For pension coverage in both public and private sectors, unionization matters,” said Boivie. “It’s probably the No. 1 thing that matters in that space.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and ARA Executive Vice President Fred Redmond, and U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) also spoke at the symposium.
Find all of the symposium resources and materials.
To find out more about how to best prepare yourself and your family for retirement, go to retiredamericans.org.
