What's the Matter with Retirement Savers?

This Article examines the fundamental issue of why Americans
save so little for their retirement despite what the rational choice
theory contends. After determining who is most at risk for undersaving
and how the new employee orientation process deprioritizes
saving for one's retirement, this Article analyzes three very recent
policy innovations that pertain to retirement savings. Those
innovations are: (1) President Obama's 2014 authorization of a new
employment-based retirement savings vehicle, the MyRA, (2) the
US. Labor Department's proposed benefit plan disclosures that
focus on future income streams rather than accumulated assets, and
(3) the U.S. Treasury Department's newly finalized effort to promote
deferred annuities as a distribution option in retirement saving
accounts. The Article concludes by asking whether a simpler and
more efficacious pathway to resolving the problem of inadequate
retirement savings might be to expand the existing Social Security
system.