Who We Are

What is Retirement USA?

• Retirement USA is a national initiative working for a new retirement system that, along with Social Security, will provide universal, secure, and adequate income for future retirees. 
• Retirement USA is convened by five organizations – the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Pension Rights Center, and the Service Employees International Union – that recognize that retirement income security is a major issue of concern for current and future retirees.

Why do we need Retirement USA?

• Our retirement system is failing too many Americans.  While Social Security continues to do its part, our private pension system is not delivering what most retirees need to provide for their basic needs.
• Even before the recent economic downturn, retirement security had become a major national concern, as companies increasingly shifted from traditional pensions to do-it-yourself savings plans. 
• The faltering stock market and dwindling 401(k) accounts have turned a major concern into a crisis, highlighting the weaknesses in our nation’s patchwork retirement system.   

What is Retirement USA doing?

• Retirement USA has developed 12 Principles for a New Retirement System, which provide a framework for a system in which employers, workers, and the government would share the responsibility for the retirement security for all American workers.
• Retirement USA has issued a call for the submission of “visionary” proposals for a future private retirement income program. Selected proposals were presented at a Re-Envisioning Retirement Security conference in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 2009.