US- US President George Bush has urged the Senate to pass his proposals to protect the pensions and retirement security of America’s workers.

In his latest radio address, Bush makes five proposals to help to protect retirement savings, two of which have already been passed by the United States Congress, and that will take effect early next year.

The law will then require companies to give their workers 30 days notice before any blackout period. Under the new rule, employees will have time to buy or sell stock or borrow from their accounts before the accounts are temporarily frozen.

Under the new laws, corporate executives will no longer be able to sell off their company’s declining stock while employees are kept from doing so.

The three other proposals made by Bush have been passed by the House of Representatives, but have not been approved by the Senate.

One proposal is that workers should be able to sell their company stock after holding it for three years, so that no one’s nest egg is tied up in the stock of a single company.

Bush also asks for better quality information to be supplied to investors, including quarterly reports advising on the performance of their 401(k)s.

Finally, Bush suggests that workers should have access to professional investment advice so that they can make more informed decisions about their savings.

More than 40m Americans save for retirement through 401(k) accounts, owning more than $1.5trn in assets. “This is real money for real workers and we must do all we can to help make sure it’s there for them when they retire,” says Bush.

Topics