82-year-old’s retirement crisis leads to bipartisan bill

Edward Eubanks, an 82-year-old McDonald’s worker in Nevada, is an example of an older one that he still works because he cannot afford to retire.

According to , although Eubanks worked on the Nevada National Security Site as a radiation monitor for 26 years, he couldn’t afford to retire. Instead, he decided to grow to be an assistant foreman before taking a job at an area McDonald’s in Henderson, Nevada, in 2009. Eubanks hopes to retire sooner or later, but for now, he plans to keep working and stay positive.

Eubanks briefly described his every day routine in . “I tell them I’m Mr. Ed, aka the hamburger man,” Eubanks said. “I restock the soda station, which is lids, napkins and straws, and then I sweep and mop the floor, take out the trash. If you laugh a lot and keep moving, you’ve got it covered,” Eubanks said.

Eubanks’ story is that this: a logo of the growing crisis described by labor economist and professor of economics and policy evaluation at The New School for Social Research in New York, Teresa Ghilarducci, in her book .

As Ghilarducci writes in his book, “Yes, Grandma deserves a good job if she wants one, but working until she drops dead is not a civilized plan in a civilized society.”

According to Ghilarducci, the work suggests that there are several groups that spend the least time in retirement, including black people, men and other people with less education. The bipartisan bill, based partly on scholarship by Ghilarducci and Kevin Hassett, former chairman of former President Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, argues that individuals should essentially be forced to get monetary savings so that they have something after they reach retirement age.

According to Retirement Savings for Americans Act press releaseissued by Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), “The bill would establish a new program that would provide eligible workers access to portable, tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts. If passed, the RSAA would allow the federal government to match contributions for low- and moderate-income workers, with the match beginning to phase out at moderate income.”

Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, noted that just about 40 million Americans currently lack access to an employer-provided or employer-sponsored retirement plan, an issue the bill seeks to address.

“About 40 million Americans lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, which is a significant barrier to achieving financial security in retirement,” Tillis said. “The Retirement Savings for Americans Act addresses this real problem by providing a path to savings for Americans who lack the opportunity to retire.”

Bill incorporates recommendations from Uber, Doordash and EIG, in addition to Goldman Sachs, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, AARPand the Human Resources Management Society.

EIG President and CEO John Letteri issued a robust statement in support of the laws, saying he was proud to work with politicians on the laws. “The Retirement Savings for Americans Act would address significant and long-standing gaps in America’s retirement system that have severely limited participation by low- and moderate-income workers. If passed, this legislation would lead to a healthier retirement system, a more financially stable workforce, and a stronger economy for all Americans. EIG is proud to have worked closely with Senators Hickenlooper and Tillis and Representatives Smucker and Sewell on this important legislation, and we commend them for their bipartisan leadership on behalf of workers across the country.”