GP Koirala Foundation America participated in the Historic Rally for Retirement Security in NYC

Girija Prasad Koirala Foundation America’s delegation lead by Vice President Subarna Lama along with Central Members Prem Poudel and Chhiring Rapke Lama participated in the Rally for Retirement Security in City Hall today, September 23, 2019. The Rally started at 9:30 am and lasted for two hours.New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Member Miller and Council Member Kallos, AARP, and other civic, elected, labor leaders and their affected members and constituencies,top elected officials, communities leaders, journalists, and human rights activists were in the Rally. The Rally concluded with the Press Conference.This is a big mayoral priority as we might recall from the Mayor’s State of the City address.GP Koirala Foundation America would like to thank Rohan Narine,Sr. Community Director from Mayor’s Office for his love and continued support to the Foundation.

ABOUT THE PROPOSED RETIREMENT SECURITY PLAN: Mayor de Blasio and the Council are proposing to provide access to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for all working New Yorkers. The need:• Fewer than half of all working New Yorkers have access to a plan that can help them save for their retirement years and• 40% of New Yorkers between the ages of 50-64 have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.• These are mostly lower-income and disproportionately female and people of color.• This reality is unacceptable and unsustainable for the future of this City. New Yorkers are working longer and harder and have little to no financial security to show for it at the end of their careers, after they have contributed so much to this city and country.How it would work:• Employers with at least 5 employees that don’t offer a retirement plan will be required to auto-enroll their employees in to the City plan with a default contribution of the employees’ own earnings, of 5%.

• The contribution works as a payroll-deduction into a portable Roth IRA so it can be transferred from job-to-job.• Employees can opt-out at any time and can reduce/increase their contribution up to the annual IRA maximum.• Employees can choose from a limited menu of low-cost investment options.• The City’s Retirement Security Fund will be overseen by a board of appointees, managed by a private third party administrator, and invested in low-cost indexed mutual funds.• The City will subsidize start-up costs, but the program will be funded by the low fees charged to participants’ accounts.