Nest eggs could count in determining basic needs

Each year, the Department of Employment and Economic Development puts a dollar amount on what it costs Minnesotans to meet their basic needs.

Not included are savings, vacations, restaurant meals, tobacco or entertainment.

HF227, sponsored by Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls), would change that.

The bill would add seven words — “including reasonable retirement and long-term care savings” — to the statute requiring the annual study calculating cost of living by county, region and statewide.

Rep. Paul Thissen

On Wednesday, the House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee laid HF227 over for possible inclusion in a later bill.

A companion, SF544, sponsored by Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul), awaits action by the Senate Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy Committee.

Thissen introduced the same idea in a bill last session, but it did not receive a hearing or gain a Senate companion.

Retirement saving “should be part of anybody’s planning for their budget,” Thissen said. He said 35 percent of Minnesotans do not have access to retirement savings plans through their employers, a figure that’s higher than the national average. And those who do have only saved enough to provide about $250 per month in their retirement, he added, which is one-tenth the amount experts recommend.

The cost of living studies requirement became law in 2013. The department studies costs across a range of households, from single individuals to families with four children. Included in the estimates are costs in seven categories: food, housing, health care, transportation, child care, other necessities and net taxes. The department draws the data from a dozen federal and state sources.

Study data is available as an online tool at the department’s website. There you can learn, for example, that the average yearly cost of living for a Minnesota family with two working adults and two children is $80,976. In Cook County, it’s $65,063. In Hennepin County, it’s $94,657.