I am the first in 4 generations of my family to not become a professional grade school teacher. My grandfather is a veteran. My family fought in Vietnam, World War II, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War. I work for a state college. You will never find someone with a longer family history of public service than me, which literally stretches back to the founding of our republic. I look at my great-grandmother who was a teacher in California, and when she died, there was nothing left for our family. She had a traditional pension. I look at my grandparents on the other side of my family who have IRAs, and they are quite comfortable in their retirement. Not because of higher wages, but because their retirement has a balance which upon their death instead of going to the billionaires who manage their money will go to their children, grandchildren, and if me, my brother, or cousins have children before they pass, their great-grandchildren. The money they earned will stay in our family for the first time in 250 years, instead of going to the billionaires like my great-grandmother’s pension.
My family has served this country since its founding, and the creation of the IRA is what finally moved us out of poverty.