Pensions for All Act

Key Points

• This bill would require every employer in the country to provide their workers with a retirement plan. The benefits must be at least as good as the ones federal government employees receive. If a company doesn't want to run its own plan, they must enroll their workers in the actual Federal Employees Retirement System.
• People who work for themselves, like freelancers and contractors, would also be required to have a retirement plan. They would have the choice to join the federal retirement system or use a private plan that offers the same level of high-quality benefits.
• To make this affordable for smaller operations, the government would help cover the costs. Businesses making less than $25 million a year and self-employed people earning less than $75,000 would receive significant discounts on their required contributions and special tax credits to help pay for the program.
• Workers would gain access to the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a professional investment account similar to a 401(k) currently used by government workers. This allows employees to save their own money for the future while their employers also add money to the account.
• The law would strictly forbid companies from cutting a worker's current pay to make up for the cost of providing these new retirement benefits. Employers who fail to provide a plan could be fined $10 per day for every worker they employ until they fix the problem.