The White House offered details Wednesday about a new retirement savings account that President Barack Obama unveiled in his State of the Union address. He’s calling the accounts “myRA.”

While any savings would accumulate over time, the low-risk investments would not deliver whopping returns. If they are pegged to the Thrift Savings Plan Government Securities Investment Fund, they would have had an annual return of 1.47% in 2012, or an average annual return of 3.61% from 2003 through 2012. Of course, the savings would compound, and even a small return is better than a loss.