The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) has come out in support of two bills introduced in the House that impact employer-sponsored retirement plans.
One is the Increasing Access to a Secure Retirement Act (H.R. 4604), sponsored by Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). This bill would allow employers to provide workers guaranteed lifetime income products, or annuities, in their retirement plans. It would let employers meet their fiduciary obligations and allow workers to convert their retirement savings into guaranteed lifetime income.
The other bill is the Receiving Electronic Statements to Improve Retiree Earnings Act (RETIRE Act), H.R. 4610, sponsored by Reps. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Jared Polis (D-CO). This legislation would allow employers to use electronic communications to send prospectus’s and other plan materials. This would reduce administrative costs for employers. However, participants who still want to receive the required communications in paper format would have that option.
“IRI enthusiastically supports these two bills that will remove some of the obstacles Americans face in planning for retirement. Both bills are included in IRI’s 2017 Blueprint for Retirement Security,” IRI Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lee Covington said. “We are committed to working with Chairman Walberg, Representative Blunt Rochester, Representative Polis and Representative Roe to move these bills forward in 2018.”