Alarms go off in Congress as savings rate falls to near zero.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: William E. Gibson

WASHINGTON _ Americans have always been voracious consumers but indifferent savers, and their rate of savings during the past few months has plunged to just about zero.

Alarmed by the astounding decline in personal savings, leaders of both major parties in Congress are proposing tax breaks and other incentives to entice American workers to set aside more of their disposable income and invest for their retirement.

This push for retirement savings comes just as Congress struggles to preserve Social Security, a successful program with shaky long-term financing that celebrated its 70th birthday this month.

Also, more companies are curtailing traditional pension plans, leaving millions of Americans with the burden of finding a way to finance their retirement.

Facing these realities, financial planners say they find it difficult to persuade many of their clients to curb spending on cars and real estate, to quit running up so much debt and to provide themselves a cushion for emergencies, much less save for retirement.

"Savings has always been a problem in the United States, and in the last couple of years I have seen...

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