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Poll: Retirement Security Is High On Americans' Agenda This Electoral Season

September 20, 2010 by  

Poll: Retirement security is high on Americans' agenda this electoral seasonAlthough tax hike proposals, immigration and energy policy appear to be a major element of this year’s midterm campaigns, a new poll also found that many Americans care about retirement security this election season.

According to a survey from Lake Research Partners and Public Opinion Strategies, a substantial majority of respondents are worried they won’t be able to maintain their standard of living in their old age. Some 70 percent expressed this view. The poll found that 62 percent said that Congress should make it a top priority to create more options for people to save for comfortable retirement.

The poll also found that 45 percent of prospective voters will take a candidate’s plan to address this issue into account when making their choice in November.

“Security in retirement is an issue that transcends party affiliation,” said Rob Autry, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies.

He added that “particularly in this year’s election, where we anticipate many close Congressional races, retirement issues will resonate with those who will likely swing many contests.”

Meanwhile, a study conducted by The Employee Ownership Foundation — which used data from the Department of Labor Form 5500 on defined contribution retirement plans — found that companies that offer employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) provide more employee benefits.

The figures suggest that among those companies, 56 percent have have a second retirement savings program, typically a 401(k), while only 47 percent of all companies have some sort of defined contribution plan.

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News
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  • http://gmail i41

    git it right, it has been the socialist deumbocrap party that took the extra cash out of SS. Also those same simple minded jackassses agreed to pay illegals SS and let SS go to Mexico (H Reid). If I had taken 1/2 of my ss tax and put in stockmarket, livestock, land or anything but the governemnt I would have had 15 times more money. Even if it would of been half starting in the 1980, I would have had something and so would my kids. SS is not pay as you go idoit, it is pay the preceeding generation and there has always been retard democraps that cann’t follow the facts. For the democraps always saying they are for the working person and the niggardly treatment of all taxpaying citizens is a shame. The statement of 700 billion of tax cuts creates more jobs you dumb pus brained idoit. Welfare and lazy assed idoits don’t create jobs, to damn retarded and too lazy to put down their beers and get off the couch.You moronic socialist democrats proved the almost trillion dollars wasted on stimulas only help Onumnutts buds and the Wall Street and Bank jackasses. Washington beltway clowns can n’t not get serious about doing away with crap like welfare , college education loans, government payment to corporations and land owners to let land lay idle and sit on their a$$es.

  • 45caliber

    None of us were really given a choice about SS taxes. You paid – supposedly – for your retirement.

    Those of us who paid all our lives are now getting to the point of drawing upon it. And now everyone says we should junk it.

    I don’t have a problem with paying it down over a period of time to those of us who are now retiring. The real problem is that the government kept adding additional ways to draw SS other than retiring and then simply taking much of it for their own use.

    Further, you can bet that if SS is scrapped, you will NOT see the tax go away. They will just call it something else and keep collecting it.

    • git it right

      45caliber, the repubs and tea partiers don’t care that you paid for ss. You just need to die quicker!! Hell, they can’t even balance a check book. How can they claim to care about the deficit and then not want to stop the tax benefits for the wealthy? Bunch of stupid hypocrites. Either you care about the deficit or you don’t. Don’t try to pass off 700 Billion dollars of tax cuts. we aren’t stupid. How about stopping the tax cuts and continue to cut spending?? What a logical idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • 45caliber

        It isn’t the GOP who want you to die early!! It is the Dimocraps. Take a look at the changes in SS and you will find that all the spending ideas came about under a Dim Congress. So is the call to shut things down now. And so are the death panels in Oblamacare!

      • s c

        45caliber, give up on “git.” His head is permanently rammed up into that one place where the sun never shines. He must like it, or he’d do something other than go looking for someone else to blame.
        Most likely, he was easy to recruit into the progressive camp. They look for people who refuse to think, have few or no standards and can’t figure out how to boil water. And, he’ll never understand that conservatives want nothing to do with ‘Republicans.’
        I wouldn’t be surprised if his financial advisor was a hardcore progressive who called himself a ‘moderate’ Republican. Wall Street is full of those worthless bastards.

    • dan az

      45
      right to the point as usual!they will probably call it obomacare so as all the illegals can reap the profits!

  • 45caliber

    The real problem with saving for retirement that I see right now is that fact that the more people save for retirement the more the politicians see this emense amount of money sitting there that they could better spend.

    Right now Oblama and company wants to take control of ALL 401K accounts – which are strictly meant for retirement. They want to then issue government certificates to cover the money. And those items generally go down as quickly as they go up. I bought some years ago just to watch. I think I ended up with about 15% less than I started with after about 24 years. I can’t see any person being willing to risk their retirement money when the interest is so skimpy, no matter how it might “help the country”. Why save when you aren’t going to get it anyway?

  • Dee

    I am sick to death of this damn government wants to give amnesty to
    these law-breaking illegal immigrants. They have screwed up this country financially enough.

  • alpha-lemming

    Words mean things and if I took ANY good news out of this it is… “62% said that Congress should make it a top priority to create more options for people to SAVE for a comfortable retirement” Not invest in government, not shore-up SSI… SAVE. SSI is unsustainable and needs to be SERIOUSLY pared back over a 15-20 year period. Personal saving, not only offers better returns, it allows things like inheritance to loved ones unavailable from Big-Brother.

  • jopa

    I guess the subject is retirement.They are probably worried because so many republicans want to privatize or invest the SS fund in Wall Street.If Bush got his way and the SS fund was invested in Wall street when he wanted , it would be totally wiped out today.Social Security would be a Three trillion dollar bonus for Wall Street moguls if the republicans get their way.

    • s c

      Whew! I was beginning to think we wouldn’t hear from any Herr Obummer apologists. In a word, j, you have not a “clue.” When it comes to describing your knowledge and the ‘quality’ of your one-sided remarks, you are consistently wrong and predictably
      shallow.
      First, Social Security is BANKRUPT. Second, How can you not know that? Third, if you know about it, then WHY do you keep silent? Fourth, how long have you been a ward of the government? Fifth, for someone who “cares” about not being seen as mean-spirited, you are incredibly MEAN-SPIRITED.
      When it comes time for you to think twice about your ‘retirement,’ just remember that it WON’T be there when you want it, and that YOU always supported a system that was built on a Ponzi scheme. Stuff that in your dossier.

      • BigBadJohn

        SS is a pay-as-you-go ponzi scheme so it is not really bankrupt. But the idea of a SS “lockbox” is a joke – it is full of IOU’s.

        This has been building for years. I have said all along that:
        a.) SS should be cut back to its original intent, a safety net for old folks out of work that could not afford food. Instead the myth has been perpetrated that it is a “retirement” fund. Not enough money will be available for the number of people at retirement age.
        b.) The government should have let you “opt out” of SS as long as you invested the same percentage in an IRA or 401K or some other retirement savings plan, of course it is way too late for this to make any difference now.

      • git it right

        Big Bad, I had over 375K invested in my company 401K and have lost 310K due the market crash… guess I am lucky that the pres. came in and stopped the bleeding when he did, or I wouldn’t have anything left. I am not really impressed with the corrupt way that Wall Street functioned, as I did the “right thing” for over 55 years. I invested in this country and saved as much as I could while raising a family, now I don’t have anything for my remaining years. The interest I make from the remaining few dollars isn’t even one percent. I can be honest and reflective and admit that the Republican Party has crippled this Nation and I don’t like it!!!

      • s c

        Git, if you think the ‘Repubs’ are the sole source of your money woes, you might as well become a progressive. BOTH major parties are to blame.
        Politicians have had it easy for way too long, and they’ve been allowed to perfect their schemes and let us blame each other. Why don’t you ‘get’ it?
        The heart of THE cure is to get rid of career politicians, and keep them out of Washington. If you think for one minute that either major political party is pristine or ‘better,’ then you are YEARS behind the learning curve. This is 2010. The ‘good old days’ are long gone, and will never return (thanks primarily to dumbed-down Americans and career politicians).

      • eddie47d

        SC is the one without a clue. Wall Street had many Ponzi schemes!

  • jopa

    When I walk in a Home Depot I always look for the older salesperson if I need to find something.I have asked younger salespeople where differant items were located throughout the store and it took me longer to explain what the item was and what it looked like.When I have extra time I will ask a younger salesperson for something I need just for the humor.Older employees seem to take their job more seriously and know what a customer wants.

  • eddie47d

    Sounds like Bobnip has been nipping the sauce out of the right wing cabinet! Social Security was raided long before Obama was even a Senator. Why wouldn’t people worry about retirement with the Tea Party bragging about doing away with it.Then you have private companies cutting or eliminating pension funds.Then there were all those private investment firms that lost a bundle of money for many folks. Maybe Bobnip ought to check out that yellow brick road that the pied pipers of Wall Street turned into a fools game.(except for themselves). What Me Worry!!!!

    • Robin from Arcadia, IN

      eddie47d… It wasn’t Barry who started to raid the Social Security pot, it was Johnson back in the 60′s. Back then the American public was more trustful of those who were voted into office. Along with advances in technology and better ways to communicate, like the blogs, the voters are finding out how corrupt our government was and is. Why did you jump to Barry’s defense? He wasn’t even mentioned! Johnson should have left it alone, and those who came after him should have done the same, whether they be Democrats or Republicans! It wasn’t their money to use!

      • eddie47d

        Robin;Get a Clue! He did mention Obama. Since you all like to blame him for everything;even things before he was born. You’re all like little kids who got your hand in the cookie jar. Go back and read Bob’s comment.

    • Bobnip

      Eddie,
      You have been sold a bill of goods, son. Hell…here’s an idea…let’s throw a few trillion at it and see what happens! It’s knitwits like you that are walking down the brick road…but, it isn’t yellow…it’s sort of a Communist Red. In the future, if we continue our current path, you’re going to say, “Hey…that ain’t right! You lied to me, King Obama! I want my freedom back!”

      Please invite me to your house on November 2nd! The expression on your face will be worth the trip!

  • Bobnip

    Companies like Home Depot have told their Store Managers to start weeding out older employees…by any means possible. After all, older, higher paid Associates adversely impact operating costs. So, they contrive charges against these individuals, terminate them, and higher in kids at barely over minimum wage. Meanwhile, they award these Store Managers with trips to the Bajamas or Rolex watches. Welcome to your Senior Years, Folks!

    An additional note- Any Senior that supports the AARP is insane! That organization is a diehard Obama supporter! He has robbed from Social Security, he has suggested hospital death committees to decide when we are to die, and he could care less if we have a retirement pension or not. You Seniors that have voted Democratic for years…the Party you voted for and the one that exists today are not even close to the same! If you believe we will be better off with a “One World Government”, where the UN controls your life and tax dollars keep voting for Democrats.

    • ValDM

      Home Depot is not the only corp. indulging in this behavior. Many of the largest companies have also taken this stance. Now, Odumbo has a plan to confiscate 401Ks, to re-inflate the the SS popped balloon. It won’t be just 401ks, but also IRAs. Retirement? Not very likely. The least bleak outlook on this is that we will be involved in a global civil war and many will die or starve.

    • 45caliber

      Bobnip:
      The head of the AARP is a liberal/progressive/environmentalist. If Congress will pass the environmental bills he wants he agrees to whatever cuts they want for the retired. The main problem is that they haven’t been able to get rid of him. And you can bet I’m not joining, although I get requests about once a week.

  • Viktor Leben

    Retirement Plan ? I had to roll my pension over to an IRA when I lost my job to downsizing ! I had to access the money to live on ! Almost gone ! No mucho dinero amigo … I lost my job back in 2006…

    Just unbelievable that people are worried about retiring ? You got to be kidding ! Who said you were going to retire ? In the “new economy” most people won’t retire – they will just die working, from the stress !!!

    HA HA That’s a good joke ! Whoever wrote this article is playing a joke, right ? I think most people are now worried about if they are going to eat … forget retirement for now. Food.

    Forget retirement. You better grab your retirement money before it disappears. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, you got a IQ lower than mine ! My IQ is 91….Wall Street is going to rip it right out of your account – with the governments help.

    You’re better off buying Gold/Silver like they propose here on this website.

    • dan az

      viktor Im on the work until you do plan.I havent even been on a vacation in my entire life time.what could be better!

      • dan az

        sorry that was work untill you die plan

  • s c

    Retirement safety has been smoldering for many years. It took government corruption, incompetence and millions of baby boomers lining up to retire to make people start thinking and stop feeling.
    Social Security insolvency is at the heart of this fiasco, and FDR’s financial infamy should make it clear that Uncle Scam is not to be trusted with the retirement of those who trusted in good intentions via a Ponzi scheme.
    Either we treat Uncle Scam like Pavlov’s dog, or we might as well get used to wearing chains.

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