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May 19, 2006

Former vice presidential candidates John Edwards and Jack Kemp joined forces on Tuesday, May 16th in Pentagon City, Va., calling on corporations to offer automatic 401(k) options in an effort to boost the financial security of middle and lower-income American families.

Edwards, a former Democratic U.S. senator from North Carolina who served as John Kerry's running mate in 2004, and Kemp, a former Republican congressman from New York who served as Bob Dole's running mate in 1996, said they were launching the "Savers Society" campaign in response to surveys that show half of American workers near retirement have $15,000 or less in savings.

Research from the Quarterly Journal of Economics shows that among recently hired workers earning less than $20,000 per year, an estimated 13 percent participate in their company's 401(k) plans. With an automatic system in which new employees would automatically be enrolled in a company 401(k) plan unless they actively opted out, participation rates would increase to 80 percent.

"American workers are taking more and more responsibility for their financial future," said Kemp, who is founder and chairman of Kemp Partners, a strategic consulting firm, and honorary co-chair of the Freedom Enterprise Fund. "An automatic 401(k) is a simple way for corporations to make it easier for their employees to assume this responsibility."