Senators Look At Ways To Make Retirement Saving Easier – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Washington Wire
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Advisor News
Washington Wire RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
May 13, 2021 Washington Wire No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Senators Look At Ways To Make Retirement Saving Easier

By Susan Rupe

Pooled employer plans, plan portability and automatic enrollment in employer retirement plans were cited as three ways to make it easier for Americans to save more money for retirement as the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing on “Retirement Security: Building a Better Future” Thursday.

Lori Lucas, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, testified that the 2006 Pension Protection Act achieved great strides in improving the defined contribution retirement system. The act incentivized employers to “automate” their defined contribution plans so that the “default” is for workers to be enrolled in the plan, to save at higher levels over time, and to invest in diversified portfolios.

However, Lucas also pointed out there is opportunity to further improve the system by promoting greater access, reducing plan leakage, and supporting thoughtful post-retirement spending.

“We know that the biggest gap when it comes to access to workplace retirement plans lies with small businesses that don’t have the wherewithal or resources to offer traditional defined contribution plans. Solutions such as multiple employer plans and pooled employer plans may serve as appealing alternatives,” said Lucas.

“When it comes to stemming leakage, a clear area of focus is cashouts upon employment termination, along with improving the existing force-out safe harbor, and helping employees with emergency savings. Finally, as more and more private-sector workers rely solely on their defined contribution as their only workplace retirement savings plan, there is a need to sharpen their financial skills around debt, and find ways to help them spend down their retirement nest egg more confidently.”

'No Silver Bullet'

“There is no silver bullet to solve Americans’ retirement security challenges,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

He called on Congress to relax fiduciary obligations for small businesses that want to establish retirement savings plans for their workers. He also recommended autoenrollment of workers into a company retirement plan and suggested that employers offer their workers an emergency savings plan as a way to prevent workers from taking hardship withdrawals from their retirement funds.

Deva Kyle, attorney with the law firm Bredhoff & Kaiser, has worked as a benefits counsel with 401(k) and related retirement plans. “Defined contribution plans are an important source of retirement income but right now they are insufficient to provide funds for most people,” she said.

Kyle recommended shoring up Social Security while providing workplace retirement savings plans that are portable as people move from one employer to another.

Nearly half of private-sector employees lack access to an employer-provided retirement savings plan, said Dave Gray, head of workplace retirement benefits at Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of workplace retirement savings plans.

Gray called for greater use of PEPs as a way of closing the coverage gap for workers employed by small businesses that don’t offer retirement plans.

He said Fidelity supports a number of bills under consideration in Congress that address the need for employers to help workers save for emergencies, tackle student debt and improve access to health savings accounts.

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

© Entire contents copyright 2021 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

 

 

 

 

Older

What Should You Do When Clients Say ‘No’ To Insurance?

Newer

Life Insurance Motivation Eases As The Pandemic Fades

Advisor News

  • Parkland man pleads guilty in $21 million gaming app investment scheme
  • Two men accused of defrauding nearly 100 investors of millions of dollars
  • Manalapan resident charged with $1 million investment scheme
  • RPI: Men in same-sex couples suffer earnings decline when preventative HIV-meds are available
  • Fidelity: retirement savers look long term, continue to save despite headwinds
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Global Atlantic announces $10B group annuity reinsurance deal with Equitable
  • Colorado adopts new annuity sales regulations
  • National Western Life introduces new fixed indexed annuity, NWL New Frontiers
  • Jackson National announces second quarter 2022 results
  • Brighthouse Financial adds to Shield Level annuity suite with new product
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • John Hancock to return $21.6M to New Yorkers after state LTCi probe
  • Virginia announces $450M settlement as part of opioid maker Endo’s bankruptcy
  • Aon: U.S. employer health care costs projected to jump 6.5% next year
  • Texas U.S. Attorney: home health care business owner sent to prison for $10M Medicare fraud
  • Massachusetts governor signs ABC Act into law
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • Evidence dispute spills into public in Alex Murdaugh case
  • Sammons names Tyler Brown new government affairs director
  • Alex Murdaugh petitions to delay Mallory Beach trial amid murder charges
  • Sales of life combination products rebound in 2021, LIMRA reports
  • Integrity Marketing Group acquires Richman Insurance Agency
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Get Linked INN to your industry Connect with INN on LinkedIn to be first on all the news and insights that matter to your industry.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • Ibexis Life & Annuity Insurance Company Launches Innovative Fixed Annuity
  • National Western Life introduces newest fixed indexed annuity, NWL® New Frontiers
  • CybeReady Supports Security Defenses with CISO Toolkit
  • Life and Disability Income Insurance Products from MassMutual Now Available on iPipeline®’s End-to-End Digital Platform
  • Business on the Go with The Crump Mobile App
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.