'Unfair Attack'
Many Americans have a tough time saving. Particularly when they're saving for something that won't happen 10, 20 or 30 years from now -- their retirement. Only about one in eight low- and moderate-income Americans -- those in the bottom 20% of income levels -- have a retirement account, according to Federal Reserve numbers quoted by The Wall Street Journal. This means millions of Americans face a troubling future.</br></br>That's why H&R Block launched our Express IRA savings product. This program allows low- and moderate-income Americans to take a critical step -- often their first -- toward saving for their future. Thanks to the Express IRA, over half a million Americans have taken this step -- placing part of their tax refund into an Individual Retirement Account. For the first time, they were saving for a better future.</br></br>You can imagine our shock, then, when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer went after our company for offering this innovative savings plan. He announced this week that he's suing H&R Block for $250 million.</br></br>I believe I speak for every one of H&R Block's more than 7,000 franchisees and company employees in the state of New York in saying that this suit is an unfair attack on a good product that plays a key role in our mission to help lower- and middle-income Americans start saving for retirement.</br></br>I use the words "unfair attack" deliberately, for that is exactly what I believe we are facing.