SEATTLE - Many people are not saving enough for retirement, and even those who are saw their savings take alarming dips during the recession. Now, a new report calls the traditional IRA and 401K plans inefficient and risky - and suggests a different kind of retirement account.

The Center for American Progress calls it the "SAFE Plan" - the acronym stands for "Secure, Accessible, Flexible and Efficient." It would be professionally managed, but overseen by a board made up partly of plan members.

Gary Burris, senior policy associate, Economic Opportunity Institute, explains the SAFE Plan uses an investment strategy known as "smoothing" for less risk and more long-term stability.

"What smoothing means," Burris says, "is in years when you have a high return rate, you don't put all of that money back into the pool - you sort of save that, for the years when there's a low return rate, so that the people who are in the retirement phase of the plan don't see big drops or gains in their retirement payouts."

The report also says there are too many hidden fees associated with the current crop of retirement accounts - fees that erode investors' nest eggs. A SAFE Plan would be run more efficiently than a traditional retirement account, so it would have a better chance of achieving its growth targets, the report notes. The SAFE Plan would require approval by Congress.

The attraction for employers is that they wouldn't have to guarantee specific returns for retirees. Less than half of all workers have retirement plans on their jobs, and Burris points out that businesses would be more likely to offer such a plan if it cost them less - which is key to getting more people to save.

"There are people who are already in plans, and there's definitely some need there to get more efficient and better returns and less cost. But the much bigger problems are the millions of people who don't have anything right now - and that's mainly the small business sector, the small-business workforce," he says.

A state like Washington could come up with a workable plan more quickly than waiting for the federal government to do it, he adds. There's already some support in the legislature for a state-based retirement savings program, but other issues have taken priority in recent years. To Burris, the new report underscores some reasons to try again.

The report is available at www.americanprogress.org.




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Coaches in the Renton School District, just south of Seattle, are organizing with the American Federation of Teachers to fight for what they say are "fair wages" in their first union contract.

Buddy Ryan, head boys track and field coach at Hazen High School, said Renton coaches get paid much less compared with neighboring school districts, which contributes to a 45% turnover rate in coaches from year to year.

"I'm not expecting to go buy a new car off a season of coaching, but I'm not expecting to make minimum wage to be responsible for all these kids," he said. "I think the reality is, a fair wage for a fair day's work is what everybody looks for."

Renton School District has proposed a 2.5% wage increase, far below what the coaches asked for. AFT has said the district has the funds to pay coaches fairly. The district did not respond to a request for comment.

Ryan said the low pay and high turnover rate costs the district more money in training and degrades the quality of the sports programs.

"And then what's the cost to the kids that get a different coach every year? Well, you know what ends up happening? These parents get tired of it and they take their kids to private schools, or they move and transfer them to other schools," he said.

Ryan noted that sports, along with other extracurriculars such as band, are what motivate many kids to keep their grades up in order to participate. He said the district should want to keep the programs strong.

"It's just like when you're a kid at dinner," he said, "and your parents say, 'You've got to eat your vegetables or you don't get dessert.' Well, that dessert is the after-school activities."

Nevada groups concerned about affordability, clean air and health care are speaking out against the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" recently signed by President Donald Trump.

The new law extends tax cuts from 2017, funded partially by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food benefits.

Dr. Joanne Leovy, steering committee chair for the Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action, noted it also ends the tax credit for electric vehicles on Sept. 30, which drives up the price of an EV by $7,500 while promoting the sales of gas-powered vehicles.

"This bill will dump an extra 2.1 billion tons of climate pollution into the atmosphere over the next decade," Leovy pointed out. "Increasing greenhouse gas emissions by about 7% over prior projections; the equivalent of adding more than 400,000 cars to the road."

The new law also cuts tax credits for rooftop solar and energy efficient home upgrades. Backers said the savings were necessary to fund other administration priorities, such as increased funding for immigration enforcement.

Yolanda Kemp, a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4041, said she worries about job losses in the public sector.

"When states, cities, towns, and schools lose essential federal funding, they will be forced to make cuts to their budgets as well, putting all public services and jobs at risk of being cut," Kemp stressed. "And let me tell you, the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' that is supposed to help hardworking Americans is nothing more than another billionaire giveaway paid for by us."

The change to Medicaid and SNAP are not immediate but will be phased in mostly in 2027 and 2028.


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More than 1,100 caregivers at Portland's Providence St. Vincent Medical Center have voted to unionize, joining the Service Employees International Union Local 49.

Hospital staffers, including certified nursing assistants, cooks, lab assistants, pharmacy techs, environmental workers and patient representatives, will soon begin collective bargaining with management over a new work contract.

Finn McCool, senior food service attendant at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, said changes to working conditions in the hospital were a major driver to organize.

"There's a lot that makes St. Vincent a great place to work, but we've also seen just tons of changes over the years around staffing and benefits," McCool explained. "My fellow caregivers really knew that jobs were only going to get harder."

The St. Vincent caregivers will join thousands of other unionized workers at Providence hospitals in Oregon, Washington state and other parts of the country. Providence officials released a statement, recognizing the union and saying they were prepared to work with it toward a new contract.

McCool noted the company made several changes to staffing and work policies without feedback from its employees, with changes to the employees' health care benefits causing a major upheaval.

"It's been a recent change to our health care plan with Aetna switching over, and that was probably a very large reason why a lot of us decided to vote yes," McCool pointed out. "We had our own internal health care system. We changed to a different thing. Co-pays changed. Things were definitely a lot harder with increased deductibles."

McCool stressed political uncertainty, particularly in the government's health care policies, was also a significant concern.

"We're seeing a lot of changes going on with the government with cuts, especially right now," McCool observed. "What threatens us is cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Our CEO said, 'These cuts are threatening the hospital.'"