FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2004

CONTACT:
Shannon Hunt, 202.777.3512
Tammy Gordon, 202.777.3530

Women’s Groups Unite to Spotlight Retirement Crisis

Older Women Face More Difficult Golden Years—They Live Longer, Widowed More Often, Have Lower Pension Income

Washington – Americans for Secure Retirement, a bi-partisan coalition working to help middle class families maintain their standard of living in retirement, today announced that four women’s organizations—Business and Professional Women/USA, Women in Farm Economics, Women Impacting Public Policy and the Women Presidents’ Organization—have joined the coalition, bringing its total number of members to 22.

“Women are especially at risk of suffering dramatic declines in their standard of living during retirement. It is important for women’s groups to come together to make sure they have access to retirement vehicles that provide guaranteed lifetime income,” said Terry Neese, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy.

These four women’s organizations join founding members Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. and Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) as well as American Agri-Women.

“The biggest danger for American women is that most are not planning to make their retirement savings stretch for 20 to 30 years,” said Jennifer Sweeney of Business and Professional Women/USA. “This is yet another instance of the income gap between men and women. Working women face a very real disadvantage that their retirement savings will not be enough to support them during those years.”

A bipartisan group in Congress, led by Reps Nancy Johnson (R-CT), John Tanner (D-TN), Phil English (R-PA) and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) in the House of Representatives and Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) in the Senate, have introduced The Retirement Security for Life Act of 2004 (HR 4849/ S. 3029), which will provide at-risk Americans with an incentive to purchase retirement vehicles, like lifetime annuities, that pay a guaranteed steady stream of income for life. Under the proposal, individuals would not have to pay federal taxes on one-half of the income from a lifetime annuity up to an annual limit of $20,000.

“If we don’t provide professional and working women with the tools to manage their retirement income, we are sentencing them to live on very meager means,” stated Dr. Marsha Firestone, President of the Women Presidents’ Organization. “We urge Congress to solve this unique problem as they address retirement reforms in the coming year.”

Women are not the only group at risk, according to the coalition; farmers, minorities, the self-employed and employees and owners of small businesses are as well because of their low rate of participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Members of Americans for Secure Retirement include: American Agriculture Movement of Arkansas, American Agri-Women, American Corn Growers Association, American Council of Life Insurers, Business and Professional Women/USA, Citizens Against Government Waste, Committee of Annuity Insurers, Financial Services Roundtable, Hispanic Business Roundtable, National Association for Variable Annuities, National Association of Farmer Elected Committees, National Community Pharmacists Association, National Consumers League, National Taxpayers Union, Small Business Survival Committee, Soybean Producers of America, The Latino Coalition, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Women Entrepreneurs, Inc., Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement, and Women Presidents’ Organization.

For more information on this new retirement challenge, visit www.paycheckforlife.org.

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