Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) officials said the organization supports proposed House Ways and Means Committee legislation that would result in small business workers gaining workplace retirement savings plan access.
Per the IRI, the bill would also present employees with the opportunity to choose a protected lifetime income solution within a plan similar in scope to benefits offered by a more traditional pension — adding the proposed legislation is spearheaded by
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA).
“We appreciate Chairman Neal’s steadfast leadership and advocacy of this legislation to help America’s workers, retirees, and their families build economic equity, strengthen financial security, and protect income in a sustainable manner to last throughout retirement years,” IRI President and CEO Wayne Chopus said. “We look forward to working with Chairman Neal and other supporters to enact this important initiative.”
According to the proposed measure, employers with five employees or more would be required to provide or arrange for access to an automatic retirement contribution plan for all full-time and long-term part-time employees.
Additionally, employers would be required to offer employees with at least a $200,000 vested retirement account balance the option to take a distribution of up to 50 percent of savings to purchase a lifetime income solution.
“Policymakers have created numerous incentives, options and mechanisms for employers to offer workplace retirement plans. But too many employees, particularly those who work for small businesses, are still not covered by a plan,” Chopus said. “This puts too many workers in jeopardy of not saving enough for retirement, which can last 20 or 30 years or longer. We need to take additional steps to address the inequitable access to an effective means to accumulate retirement savings and this legislation is a common-sense step to do just that.”