The Treasury Department recently announced that it will begin to
wind down the myRA program after a review by the government found
it not to be cost-effective.
MyRAs were launched in 2014 as a savings plan offered by
Treasury intended to encourage retirement savings among low-income
individuals lacking employer-sponsored retirement plans. MyRAs
operated essentially the same as Roth IRAs, allowing after-tax
contributions to the account. However, the sole investment option
was a Treasury security that earned the same interest rate as the
government bond fund available to federal employees. Also,
participants paid no start-up fees or account maintenance fees.
According to Treasury, demand for and investment in the myRA
program has been low, while the cost to the federal government to
manage the program since 2014 was high. Treasury announced that it
will phase out the myRA program over the coming months, and it will
communicate frequently with participants to help
