Treasury winding down Obama-era retirement savings program

The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it will wind down an Obama-era program aimed at helping low- to middle-income workers save money for retirement.

Treasury said demand was low and the cost was high for the myRA program, which was rolled out nationwide in 2015 to provide an option for those without employer-based retirement plans.

“Unfortunately, there has been very little demand for the program, and the cost to taxpayers cannot be justified by the assets in the program,” said U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza in a statement.

{mosads}“Fortunately, ample private sector solutions exist, which resulted in less appeal for myRA,” Carranza said.

The program will be phased out over the next few months and participants will be pointed to private-sector options.

Treasury estimated that $70 million had been spent to manage the program since 2014.

Participants have opened 20,000 accounts and deposited $34 million, according to Treasury’s figures. There are another 10,000 open accounts without any contributions.

The accounts have no fees and are backed by U.S. government savings bonds.

“We are committed to promoting retirement savings, and, as Treasurer, I plan to devote a substantial amount of my time to ensuring more Americans have the tools and knowhow to save for retirement,” Carranza said. 

Then-President Barack Obama announced the creation of program in his 2014 State of the Union address.