ALEXIS SIMENDINGER:

No, actually what's interesting about this proposal is the president is saying he would very much like congress to take up a separate legislative initiative that would be called the opt-out, it's an automatic IRA. And congress is a little resistant to that idea because they're concerned that it would require employers to sign up their workers, and they prefer, especially republicans, that it be a voluntary idea, continuing the way we're doing it now in the retirement system. But the president is saying that there are many studies out there that suggest that workers are much more likely to put aside money for retirement if they're automatically signed up for a retirement account through their workplace and then they have the choice to opt out. And there are many academic studies that show we overcome our inertia about saving if someone actually starts to execute it for us. So without congressional support the president is saying he wants to create this little starter saving account, the MyIRA, and encourage workers to think about payroll deductions, automatically, with their employers, employers could offer this, and that they would then accrue money in a very small way, but very risk-free, and get more used to saving.