WASHINGTON - Al Gore plans to offer workers a new retirement savings program with as much as a 3-to-1 government match to help Americans build bigger nest eggs separate from Social Security, campaign aides said yesterday.
The Democratic presidential contender's ''Retirement Savings Plus'' accounts are designed to appeal to savings-savvy voters attracted to Republican George W. Bush's rival proposal to let workers invest an unspecified slice of their Social Security payroll taxes in the stock market.
''Al Gore will use our historic budget surplus to save Social Security and provide people with an additional savings account. In sharp contrast, George W. Bush would blow out the budget surplus on a tax cut for the wealthy ... and drain money from the Social Security trust fund for his risky and irresponsible privatization,'' said Gore spokesman Chris Lehane.
Bush argues that such investments give workers a chance to reap bigger retirement benefits, but Gore counters that the Social Security guarantee would be jeopardized if the stock market turned down.
Gore's alternative, which he was to announce tomorrow while campaigning in Lexington, Ky., would cost the government about $200 billion over 10 years, aides said.
Gore first spoke of creating individual tax-free retirement accounts nearly a year ago. Aides said the time is right to push ahead with them now because the cost could be borne by bigger budget surplus projections that revised federal forecasts are expected to make official soon.
But Gore's proposal also comes as polls suggest that a majority of voters are interested in Bush's plan.
Even before Bush outlined his ideas in May, Gore argued that diverting Social Security funds into individual stock portfolios could spell an end to the government entitlement.
Reacting to Gore's plan, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said, ''It's his third position in six months on the soundness of using tax money to invest in a secure, strong retirement. He keeps changing his tune.''
Under Gore's proposal, individuals could deposit as much as $1,500 tax free per year in accounts that would be managed by private financial institutions.
As with IRAs and 401(k)s, contributions would be tax deductible, the money would grow tax free and withdrawals would be taxable.
Investment choices would be limited to ''broad-based equities,'' bonds and government securities to avoid the risks of speculation and day trading, Gore aides said.
Tax-free deposits and the government match - in the form of a tax credit - would vary according to income but would, in any case, be capped at a total savings of $2,000 per year.
For a couple earning up to $30,000 annually, the government match would be 3 to 1.
To reach the annual limit, their $500 annual deposit would be matched by $1,500 from the government.
The match would be dollar for dollar for couples earning $30,000 to $60,000.
For incomes between $60,000 and $100,000, the federal match would shrink to 33 percent of the individual contribution, with a $1,500 deposit drawing a $500 government supplement.
Qualifying income brackets would be shaved to roughly 75 percent for single parents, and in half for individuals.
Full participation over 35 years of work would yield $202,000 in retirement savings for an individual over and above Social Security, Gore aides said.
Money could be withdrawn earlier and without penalty only to pay for a child's college education, a first home, or medical bills for catastrophic illness.
President Clinton had proposed a similar plan, though Gore aides say the vice president's is ''more progressive'' for low-income people and allows for non-retirement uses.
