The State of the Union address is widely viewed as a platform merely for a display of pomp and circumstance. There is an understanding that most of the topics addressed won’t come to fruition based on political pressures and divisions that will make implementation nearly impossible.

On January 29th, 2014, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the Treasury Department to create a new retirement-savings vehicle aimed at workers who don't have access to traditional retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s. That group includes about half the U.S. workforce.