Reintroducing: The myRA Account

If you have $1 (one dollar) in your retirement account and you are age 25-64, congratulations! You have more money in your retirement account than 45 percent of Americans in that age bracket. Many Americans are not saving for their retirement at all and that is a problem!

Your retirement goal is to have sufficient funds to relax and enjoy your senior years without having to work. Many have come to despise this goal because they feel it is unattainable, unrealistic or even cruel. There are no magic strategies in investing. I’m not one to preach stocks, or real estate, or commodities, but ask yourself one question: Who will fund my retirement if I don’t? Bottom line, you have to start somewhere and go someplace. There is a new retirement program that was enacted one year ago, but hardly nobody knows about.

This new program is called myRA. Employers are not required to participate in the new program. The myRA account is administered through the United States Treasury. The plans can be funded by an employer, a personal account, or even from a federal tax refund. The employee must have earned income to participate. A key to the new program is that there are no administrative costs.

To participate, the fund participant goes to myRA.gov, selects the “sign up” option, and follows the step-by-step process. They receive an account number and then fund the account by setting up automatic deposits through their employer, their own accounts, or federal tax refund. If the employer already has a retirement account such as a simple or 401K, then the myRA is not available. The costs to the employer are very little and are an inexpensive alternative for employers that don’t set up retirement accounts.

When funding the plans, individuals can give a set percentage of money per payroll period or contribute as they go along. There is no minimum contribution. There is no initial startup fee.