The Left and Right Appear to Agree on Something that Will Produce Better Health and Better Pensions
September 6, 2016
News Article
Given the increasing polarization of American politics, readers may be pleasantly surprised to learn there are some public policy alternatives where the left and right seem to agree.
An example is called “auto enrollment.” When workers are hired these days—especially at a large company—odds are they won’t be asked if they want to join the company’s 401(k) plan. Instead, they will be automatically enrolled. If they don’t like that fact, they can walk down to the HR department and opt out.
Studies show that auto enrollment makes a big difference in whether employees participate in a retirement plan and how they participate—particularly low-income employees. Left to their own devices, far too many people make three mistakes: (1) they don’t join their company plan, or (2) if they do join, they don’t contribute enough—leaving employer matching dollars on the table—or (3) they invest too conservatively (e.g., government securities—with no risk, but very little return) or allow themselves to be defaulted into money market funds.
