Washington — LIKE nearly half the American workforce, Pierre Randolph has no pension or 401(k) plan to look forward to in old age.
Nonetheless, the 44-year-old maintenance worker is cultivating a retirement nest egg with the aid of his employer, outside the traditional pension system and the rules that govern it.
"These days, you don't have a retirement plan unless you make a retirement plan," said Randolph, whose employer deposits his annual raise into an individual retirement account. "If you don't save for it, you won't have it."
Plans such as Randolph's could become more widespread under various legislative proposals to address a gaping hole in the nation's safety net for financial security in retirement. The idea is for employers to deposit money from a paycheck straight into a special account, in some cases before it is taxed, and before workers have a chance to spend it.
The approach could generate savings for many of the 71 million Americans who have no workplace retirement plan. Advocates say it would cost employers little, though some employer groups are wary.
Regardless, the idea is finding support in both major political parties, which for decades have warred over retirement security issues.
"There's very strong interest in this proposal from Republicans and Democrats, from many liberal congressional offices, from many conservative congressional offices," said David C. John, a scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "This is one issue where we are able to work together."
Tom Borger, who employs Randolph, began pushing his own version of the idea about 10 years ago.
Borger owns a firm that manages properties in the Washington area and wanted to help his staff of painters, maintenance people and others save for retirement. Many earn just $20,000 to $30,000 a year.
Like many smaller employers, he did not want to set up a pension plan that would be subject to all the funding rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. He also knew that few of the workers were launching their own retirement accounts.
"For them to say, 'It's April 14, I'm going to write a check for $2,000 for my IRA,' it doesn't happen," Borger said. "They're living paycheck to paycheck."
To help, he offered to put the additional money each employee earned as a result of annual raises directly into an IRA that the worker would own and control. To keep it simple, he decided to make lump sum deposits once a year.
