Editor, News-Register:

As Labor Day is fast approaching it seemed like a good time to see where the candidates stand on retirement benefits for Americans.

Former President Trump used to like to ask, “How’s your 401(k) doing?” But the answer for most Americans is, “What 401(k)?”

Who will do more for retirement and working people on Social Security and Medicare?

Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Social Security. During his presidency and recent campaign, he said he would protect Social Security benefits. Several news stories published during her 2020 bid for the White House quoted Kamala Harris calling for a “need to expand Social Security” to provide beneficiaries “with greater dignity and peace of mind.”

In February 2019, then-Sen. Harris co-sponsored the Social Security Expansion Act, legislation introduced by fellow senator and Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders. The bill proposed extending the Social Security payroll tax to incomes over $250,000 a year. At the time, the amount of income subject to payroll taxes capped out at $132,900. (The cap has been adjusted for inflation since then, and is at $168,600 in 2024).

Trump’s stance on Medicare mirrors his approach to Social Security: He promises to protect benefits but provides limited details on how he would achieve this. As a Democratic candidate in the 2020 election cycle, Harris focused more on the principles of her Medicare For All plan than describing how she planned to keep the program solvent for its more than 67 million current beneficiaries.

The Defined Benefit Pension is no longer enjoyed by 90% of workers. That is even higher in the private sector. It is one of the 3-legged stools in retirement planning — the other two legs, private savings and social security.

You can convert a pretax 401K into an annuity and that is what DBP is in reality, or roll into IRA either in equities and bonds or in a bank FDIC secured account.

The fact that most private sector workers have no pension plan or access to a pretax 401(k) makes Social Security all the more important.

Where does it leave workers? The traditional or Roth Individual Retirement Account can be started for about $10 at most financial institutions. Adding $10 or more each week allows the Traditional Roth account holder to deduct the amount from Federal income taxes. Once reaching $1,000, it can be rolled over into a mutual fund allowing the account holder exposer to the equities market.

Making contributions is a method of savings known as Dollar Cash Averaging. Nelson Griggs is president of Nasdaq, and he has stated that the latter part of 2024 and 2025 will see a new Group Technologies IPO coming on board the Nasdaq, but workers have the chance to be exposed to stocks.

The sooner a person starts saving the sooner they will enjoy the concept of time and money.

I would not count on either candidate for your future — this is best done by saving a little from each paycheck. In other words, no one will save us but us.

Standing for the working class

Michael Traubert

Wellsburg