Some ran. Some walked. Some jogged. Some may have balked. But all came away a little smarter and more aware about the importance of saving for retirement.
The nearly 12,000 people who registered for the Prudential 4.01K Race for Retirement at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Sept. 17 also took a pledge to save 1 percent more of their annual earnings for their retirement. “Progress starts with small steps,” said Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement. “If every American started saving an additional 1 percent of their annual earnings this year, it would add up to $134 billion in retirement savings. For the average American, saving 1 percent more equates to just $10 per week.”
A recent Prudential (No. 10 on the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies list) study found that as many as one in three Americans are not saving enough toward retirement. Our research has also shown that people are living longer than ever before. The combination of longer life spans and the lack of adequate savings has led to a real problem for many Americans.
California State Treasurer John Chiang announces the start of the Race for Retirement.
To bring attention to this troubling development, Prudential decided to sponsor a 4.01K road race (4.01kilometers or 2.49 miles), in a festive and fun atmosphere in the hope of inspiring more people to take that next step toward retirement security. The first race was held in Washington, D.C., in 2015. “Being here gives you that extra motivation to want to try and save more,” said one participant at this year’s race.
California State Treasurer John Chiang came out to support the cause and helped kick off the race.”People work hard throughout their lives, and you want everybody to have the golden dream,” Chiang told the runners at the start line. “And part of that is you have to do a lot of intelligent planning, you have to make sure you take the proper steps, just like running this 4.01K today so that people get to a better place.”
Thanks to everyone who participated, Prudential also made a $200,000 donation to the 1:1 Fund. One of the barriers to saving for retirement is thecost of higher education and the 1:1 Fund helps low-income families pay for college by matching their savings dollar-for-dollar.
Interested in learning more Go to our race recap atwww.Run401K.com.Want to speak with someone about the issue of retirement saving Contact Josh Stoffregen.
