Never been more proud of Rose Penelope Yee, CPFA®, CHSA, my wife of 32 years as she campaigns for US Congress, California, District 1. It was a scorcher today in the city of Mt. Shasta yet she was out there talking with voters and handing out American flags to the young ones. In many ways, Rose represents the quintessential American Dream.
Born in the Philippines to a labor-rights attorney father and a journalist mother, she naturally has an inquisitive mind. She does not accept the status quo but rather keeps probing for the truth, debating, questioning, and prodding. These natural skills were further honed in MBA school. She arrived in the US at age 31, accompanying one of her sisters who was interviewing at a hospital for a residency in Internal Medicine.
While she was planning to go back to the Philippines to continue her career in Southeast Asia (Mitsubishi Singapore was dangling an offer in front of her), I managed to convince her that I was the catch-of-the-day and that even though we had been dating (in-person and long distance) for a year and a half, she really should stay in the US!
When we got married, we did not have two dimes together. Fast forward 32 years, we have a comfortable 401k practice. We have raised and graduated junior 401k advisor, James. And now Rose is able to explore running for Congress. How far she has come through hard work...and 401k savings! And the promise of America that immigrants hold as they come to this country is certainly manifested in her journey.
The promise of America is that if you work hard, follow the rules, and save, you can make it. Rose came to the United States with certain advantages in language ability, education, and internal drive. All of that was helpful in 2006. We launched our 401k practice, Green Retirement then and were gaining momentum when the Great Recession hit. Our 401k savings helped steer us through.
There are some things as a society that we have no control over. Each of us must make our own way in education and internal drive. Rose can fill you in on my thoughts on laziness. It is up to each of us to do the best we can within the rules of this country. However what we, the financial services industry, should press for is making it as easy as possible to save.
As previously discussed, I am huge fan of auto-enrollment and auto-escalation when combined with a fair living wage. It is important for folks to be able to retire with dignity. They should be able to stand on their own two feet in retirement. The more we as an industry can do to make that a reality, the less likely participants are to rely on government services or charity for help in retirement.
And the idea of retiring with dignity should extend to gig-economy workers as well. The American Dream is for everyone. Don't we say that each time we recite the Pledge? "With liberty and justice for all"?
Depending on the survey, 66% of Americans (MarketWatch) to 78% of Americans (Payroll.org) are living paycheck to paycheck. While there are any number of policy discussions to be had as well as external factors to be examined/ changes made, it is scary to think what retirement might look like in those circumstances. Surely we as a country can do better in helping all have a chance at realizing the American Dream.