From Here to Security: How Workplace Savings Can Keep America's Promise

CHAPTER 5

WORKPLACE SAVINGS 3.0: FINDING THE KEYS TO RETIREMENT READINESS

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

—HENRY FORD

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 actually worked better than many of us had expected. By offering official legislative and regulatory support for a series of best practices such as auto-enrollment or automatic savings escalation, the law significantly speeded the uptake of powerful, effective ideas that were already evolving in the retirement markets.

More importantly, its passage marked the moment when Congress and leading national policy makers began to treat workplace plans like the 401(k) as America’s primary retirement income source of the future. The new law’s key provisions, in turn, ...