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About The Retirement Savings Education Campaign

Background

The Department of Labor launched its Retirement Savings Education Campaign (RSEC) in July 1995 to help women, minorities and small businesses take steps to save for a secure retirement. RSEC has information for employees, small businesses, and employers about saving for retirement and the tools to get started.

In 1997, the Savings Are Vital to Everyone’s Retirement Act, known as the SAVER Act, was enacted, directing the Department of Labor to continue its retirement savings education and outreach program. In addition, the SAVER Act directed the Department to convene three National Summits on Retirement Savings to be co-hosted by the White House and Congress. The first summit, focusing on the challenges to saving for retirement, was held on June 4-5, 1998. The second summit, focusing on advancing generational prosperity, was held on February 27 – March 1, 2002. The third summit, focusing on trends, challenges and opportunities in saving for your golden years, was held on March 1-2, 2006. For more information on the Summits, including the materials from the Summits, visit the National Summit on Retirement Savings Web site.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the Retirement Savings Education Campaign, the Department unveiled a new campaign logo and slogan, Saving Matters, designed to more effectively reach its audiences and help change their attitudes and behavior towards saving.

The Department also presented the Oseola McCarty Super Saver Award to recognize low-income wage earners who have successfully prepared for the cost of retirement through saving and investing. DOL presented the award to inspire others by shining a spotlight on these individuals.

The Department has created many tools to encourage employees and small businesses to save including publications, public service announcements, outreach, and the agency’s Web site. The retirement savings publications range from New Employee Savings Tips – Time is on Your Side for workers on their first job, to Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning, for workers who are much closer to retirement. In addition, RSEC is conducting the Fiduciary Education Campaign to educate employers about their fiduciary responsibilities under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Public Service Announcements

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Calculators

Here are some helpful tools employees can use to calculate how much money an individual will need at retirement:

Taking The Mystery Out of Retirement Planning - This publication with interactive worksheets is designed to help individuals ten years or less away from retirement see if their retirement savings are on track.

CNN Money - This retirement planner helps you estimate how well your savings program is preparing you for retirement. First it helps you figure out how much you'll need. Then it tells you your chances of getting there.

American Savings Education Council - The Ballpark Estimate is an easy-to-use, one-page worksheet that helps you quickly identify approximately how much you need to save to fund a comfortable retirement. The Ballpark Estimate takes complicated issues like projected Social Security benefits and earnings assumptions on savings, and turns them into language and mathematics that are easy to understand.

National Association of Securities Dealers - These financial calculators are meant to provide you with some of the information necessary to make sound financial decisions and to plan for the future.

For More Information About RSEC

For more information about the Retirement Savings Education Campaign, please contact:

U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Suite N-5623
Washington, D.C. 20210
Tel 202.693.8664