© 2025 Pension Rights Center. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 2.5 Generic License.
Karen Friedman, the Pension Rights Center’s Executive Director, recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on expanding coverage for the millions of private sector workers not covered by or participating in an employer-sponsored retirement benefit plan.
Karen’s goal was to make the Senators aware that retirement insecurity is a major issue in the United States—so much so that a recent survey by Allianz Life Assurance showed that 64 percent of respondents fear running out of money more than they do death! The committee members also needed to know that the data on pension coverage and retirement plan inadequacy underscores these fears. Legislative action is needed not only to augment pensions and retirement savings but also to expand and strengthen Social Security.
Karen relayed that PRC’s passion – and her own – is “to help people and ensure that everyone can retire with a financially secure and dignified retirement.”
She told the committee: “We’ve heard from tens of thousands of people – across the country – who tell us how they’re struggling in retirement because they can’t make ends meet. That’s because some people don’t have a pension, many haven’t saved enough in their 401(k)-type plans, and an alarming number of people don’t have any retirement plan at all.”
She also conveyed the thoughts of a retiree from Kansas City, Mo., who wanted her to tell the committee members that the desire for retirement security cuts across all political stripes and is truly an “American issue.”
Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (D-VT) emphasized with astonishment that half of American workers don’t own an employer-sponsored retirement plan. He asked Karen what it would mean if all Americans had access to a traditional defined benefit pension like what members of Congress have? Karen responded that the lives of countless Americans would be meaningfully improved.
Sanders then reiterated a tragic point made by Karen that millions of Americans have intense anxiety because they are entering retirement with “nothing in the bank.” Social Security is therefore their sole source of income – with 22% of senior citizens trying to survive on a yearly benefit of merely $15,000.
Karen said that Sanders’ recently introduced “Pensions for All” bill, which is modeled on the retirement plan provided to new Congressional members, is “aspirational and an “inspirational challenge to all of us to think big.” She said PRC’s policy principles, including universal coverage and an adequate and secure retirement income, should be used to evaluate any legislation purporting to bolster retirement income for low- and moderate-income workers.
She also commended state-administered auto IRA programs – an ongoing modest approach to expanding coverage to workers not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) both touted their state’s successful programs.
During the hearing, Karen had numerous productive exchanges, including with Senators Margaret (Maggie) Wood Hassen (D-NH), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Rochester, Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Hickenlooper.
Her exchange with Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) is particularly noteworthy because it offered a real-life snapshot of what many Americans, both retirees and their families, are encountering.
Kim related his struggle dealing with his elderly father who had been in-and-out of the hospital and had major surgery only a few days earlier. Kim said that this turmoil has been accentuated by the financial burden on his family stemming from the fact that, for several reasons, his father wasn’t able to save for retirement.
Like millions of other workers, Kim explained that his father relies on Social Security as his sole source of income. His father was receiving even less than the average yearly Social Security benefit of $24,000, Kim said. He said he knows that many other families are struggling with similar situations. He asked Karen about her ideas to address this widespread problem.
She told Kim that there are many potential solutions to explore, such as the “Pensions for All” bill and expansion beyond the 20 states that have implemented or are developing state-auto IRA programs, as well as other ideas.
Senator Kaine stressed the importance of having bipartisan input on retirement adequacy solutions, adding that he “really wished this hearing was one where we were all sitting around a table firing questions at each other,” where he could interrupt and challenge people and they could do the same to him.
To that order, Karen had already said that in 2026, PRC will celebrate its 50th anniversary by sponsoring a common ground conference bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to explore the full range of pension coverage solutions, modest to bold.
