How about these ideas for encouraging people to save for retirement?

1) Make it easier for small companies to set up 401(k) retirement savings plans in which all workers are automatically enrolled unless they choose not to. Employers can set default amounts of each worker’s pay to automatically be deposited into the accounts without being taxed. Workers can raise or lower the contribution levels, and they choose how to invest the money. They will pay taxes on the money only when they withdraw it as retirees, when their tax rates are likely to be lower than when they are working full-time. A similar process would apply to savings plans called SIMPLE-IRAs.

2) Allowing such plans to automatically increase the amount that workers save over time unless the workers choose otherwise.

3) Allowing people to choose to check a box on their federal tax returns asking that any refund be sent as a savings bond rather than a refund check, which are generally cashed and spent.

4) Allowing workers, when leaving a job, to choose to direct unused vacation pay to a retirement savings account rather than taking it in cash.