Blackstone’s Tony James Wants Retirement Security for All

A surprising new voice has joined the growing chorus of those worried about a retirement crisis in the U.S. Over the years we’ve heard plenty from policymakers, think-tank denizens, and academics. So Hamilton (Tony) James, president and COO of $311 billion Blackstone Group, is a welcome addition to the debate over how to ensure that millions don’t retire in poverty.

James entered the fray in September with the publication ofRescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans. He co-wrote the book with veteran labor economist and retirement security expert Teresa Ghilarducci, the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz professor of economics at the New School for Social Research and director of the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) and its Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab).

“这对美国来说是一个巨大的问题，我们需要专注于它，”詹姆斯说，黑石联合创始人斯蒂芬·施瓦茨曼于2002年从信贷瑞士瑞士信贷第一波士顿招募，以帮助发展私募股权和资产管理巨头。“我想开始一个国家对话。”

James had been studying the issues around retirement security in the U.S. for about two years when he reached out to Ghilarducci to see how they might work together to create a new retirement savings structure for the many people who are saving nothing or too little.

As a first step, the pair wrote their book to present the facts and a clear outline of how to solve the problem on a national level. Ghilarducci and James point out that the average retirement savings balance of an American between the ages of 40 and 55 is $14,500, and the median savings in a 401(k) account is $18,433; but to retire comfortably, the average American needs about $375,000. Also, 68 percent of working people (those aged 25 to 64) don’t have a retirement plan because their employer doesn’t offer one, they don’t participate in their workplace plan, or they’re not working.

Ghilarducci and James call for restructuring the 401(k) and IRA system, making the new program mandatory for employers and employees, and including the use of annuities. “Anybody who is not in a defined benefit plan is exposed to a failed system,” Ghilarducci tells亚博赞助欧冠. The proposed system aims to get participants as close as possible to the key benefits of a traditional pension.

Support from the retirement security sector has been encouraging. “It’s a very important contribution to the dialogue,” says Karen Friedman, policy director of the Pension Rights Center, a consumer advocacy group. “It is very well-written, very creative, and a solid solution.”

弗里德曼引用了关键的想法，如授权社会保障的最高授权退休储蓄计划，所有雇主和雇员都贡献，除非他们已经赞助或在计划中，并提供了401（k）计划没有提供的充足性系统。

何时才能确保缺乏获得退休计划的5000万的大部分工作人员或选择不贡献一个人会开始储蓄，而不是每个人都同意新的国家计划是必要的。Josh McGee是劳拉和约翰阿诺德基金会的政策专家和经济学家，重点关注公共养老金，教育和刑事司法，认为目前的界定计划制度正在充分工作。

“The book dramatically overstates the problem,” says McGee, who is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “It’s not clear we need a federally mandated system.”

在McGee的观点中，“建议我们所要做的就是投资于这些汇集资金的情况，当这么多[退休]资产已经在目标日期基金中。”但是，他认为，界定缴费计划资产的亚金纳化有改进的空间。

James and Ghilarducci recently visited members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including Democratic senators Cory Booker and Ronald Wyden and their Republican counterpart Robert Corker, to introduce the national savings program. “In the government there is recognition we need a federal plan and everybody needs to be in a plan,” Ghilarducci says.

One of the co-authors’ visits was with Representative Joseph Crowley, who hassponsored legislation要创建USAccounts，它将在出生时给每个孩子一个个性化的储蓄车辆。克劳利还促进了基于联邦节省储蓄计划的工作场所储蓄账户的创建，即拥有超过十名工作人员的每个雇主都会赞助。

“We’re seeing a new generation of Americans growing up with little or no savings to help them climb the economic ladder, weather a difficult time, or create a comfortable nest egg for their family,” the New York Democrat says. “And that has to change.”

James, a noted philanthropist who serves on the boards of the Center for American Progress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mount Sinai Health System, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, says he has spoken with labor leaders and the CEOs of major U.S. corporations, finding them unanimous in their praise for his proposed retirement program.

“There used to be a coming together of issues of national importance,” he observes. “We haven’t done this in 50 years.” James believes the time to act is now.