As the unified voice of America’s more than 10 million women-owned businesses, NAWBO has a lot to say about issues impacting our members and women entrepreneurs at large. Most recently, we’re proud to see the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (or H.R. 1994), which we had expressed our support for, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives late last month.
The bi-partisan legislation will expand opportunities for Americans to increase their retirement savings and improve the portability of lifetime income options from one plan to another.
“The NAWBO National Annual Membership Survey reveals that not enough of our members are preparing for retirement for themselves or their employees. This is an all too common problem among small business owners,” said Molly Gimmel, NAWBO National Board Chair at the time of the legislation’s passage. “We applaud the U.S. House for passing the SECURE Act in a bipartisan manner.”
Recent data from Paychex shows that 39 percent of today’s small business owners are not confident they can retire. The Paychex survey also demonstrated that just being able to save more would increase their confidence about retirement.
Immediately after the bill’s passage, Richard E. Neal (D-MA), U.S. House Ways and Means Committee chairman, released this statement: “With passage of this bill, the House made significant progress in fixing our nation’s retirement crisis and helping workers of all ages save for their futures. The SECURE Act is a bi-partisan success, filled with commonsense proposals authored by members from both sides of the aisle. The legislation closes loopholes and makes it easier for small business employees, home care workers and long-term part-time workers to save for retirement.”
He continues on to say, “I’m also proud that we were able to incorporate a much-needed fix to reverse unfair and unexpected high taxes on Gold Star families, low-income scholarship recipients and children of fallen first responders, among others. I encourage the Senate to follow our lead and swiftly pass this important bill that goes a long way in helping American families prepare for a financially secure retirement.”
Click here to learn more about this legislation.