Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 27 May 2019
A25

AP Explains: How retirement legislation impacts you

By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL sion or other defined ben-
Associated Press efit plan. But 29% of older
Americans generally do Americans had neither a
not have enough saved for pension nor assets in anoth-
retirement and Congress er retirement account.
is considering a number of It’s a complex problem,
measures to address that. driven in part by a shift
There are a few retirement- away from traditional pen-
related bills of note mak- sions toward a do-it-your-
ing their way through Con- self savings system.
gress. One in particular, the Research has shown one
Secure Act, gained signifi- of the most effective ways
cant traction this week. The to get people to save is
House voted to approve it through access to a work-
Thursday and it is widely ex- place retirement plan. But
pected to move forward in millions of Americans do
the Senate. Some experts not have access to such
are saying it is one of the plans, particularly at small
most important potential businesses where the cost
changes to retirement rules and complexity hinders
seen in years. some companies from es-
___ tablishing one.
WHAT IS IT? So this legislation is impor-
The Setting Every Com- In this Monday, April 2, 2018, file photo, an IRS Form 5305, Simplified Employee Pension — Individual tant because it removes
munity Up for Retirement Retirement Accounts Contribution Agreement is shown in New York. some of those barriers, said
Enhancement Act, known Associated Press Phil Waldeck, president of
as Secure Act, is designed mum distribution age, from it easier for employees to students and members of Prudential Retirement. The
to help more people save 70½ to 72, as people are transfer retirement plan Native American tribes. legislation would eliminate
more for retirement. living and working longer. assets when they change ___ other hurdles that keep
Its highlights include a pro- It also provides more years jobs. WHY DOES IT MATTER? other people from saving in
vision to make it easier for for people to contribute to There are other notable Americans are facing a other settings.
small businesses to band individual retirement ac- components, such as al- major retirement savings It’s not a cure all but ex-
together to offer retirement counts, for the same rea- lowing employees to with- crisis. perts say it’s a step in the
plans to employees. It also son. draw savings penalty free Almost half of U.S. house- right direction.
opens the door for long- Additionally, it creates new for the birth or adoption holds led by someone 55 or Rhian Horgan, founder and
term part-time employees rules that could expand of a child. And it would fix older had not set aside sav- CEO of Kindur, a startup
to gain access to work- lifetime-income options a component of the 2017 ings for retirement, accord- that aims to help people
place retirement plans. It within workplace plans, tax overhaul that raised ing to a report released in navigate retirement, said
would raise the age that such as annuities, to help taxes on benefits received March by the Government she thinks it is “the most
Americans must start draw- people establish reliable by family members of de- Accountability Office. meaningful piece of retire-
ing from retirement savings, stream of income in retire- ceased military veterans, About 20% of households ment-focused legislation
known as the required mini- ment. It would also make as well as taxes on some did have access to a pen- we’ve seen in decades.”q

Where US home affordability is the worst

By JOSH BOAK and LARRY time.” The widest chasm 158% since 2000, while
FENN in home prices relative to wages have increased just
Associated Press incomes was in Honolulu, 45%.q
WASHINGTON (AP) — Living followed by Los Angeles
by the beach is becoming and the Hawaii city of Ka-
even more cost prohibitive. hului. Other metros in the
While many Americans top 10 of largest gaps in
know about the sky-high affordability include Key
costs of housing in New West, Florida and Ocean
York City or Seattle, afford- City, New Jersey, both tour-
ability is increasingly the ist destinations. Just outside
worst in areas where the the top 10 are San Diego,
wealthy vacation and a Santa Cruz and part of
large share of local work- Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
ers cater to their needs. The In this March 6, 2018, file photo, people walk along a path in Consider Ocean City.
trend taps into the worsen- front of a row of homes in San Jose, Calif. This southern stretch of
ing economic inequality Associated Press the Jersey shore includes
that is reshaping American ment income data. Of the ening gap, buying a house the Victorian cottages of
society. top 10 communities with and achieving the Ameri- Cape May, the sweeping
Roughly 78% of U.S. metro the biggest gaps between can Dream is going to be mansions of Avalon and
areas have seen home home values and incomes, increasingly difficult,” said wood-planked boardwalk
prices rise faster than wag- half were seaside. But there Ralph McLaughlin, deputy of Ocean City, which be-
es, according to an As- were also places with a chief economist at Core- came a family-oriented re-
sociated Press analysis of growing concentration of Logic. “But if you can get sort destination after ban-
home values tracked by highly-paid tech jobs. your foot in the door, the ning the sale of alcohol.
CoreLogic and govern- “In places that see a wid- benefits may last for a life- Home prices have climbed