Retirement Proposals Gain Wide Support

Both the U.S. House and the Senate have pushed forward proposals to overhaul the retirement system, which could be a boon for the asset management industry. The Wall Street Journal reports that the proposals have support from both Republicans and Democrats, and insurance industry officials anticipate that legislation would be enacted sometime this year. An article in ThinkAdvisorbreaks down the major components of the House’s SECURE Act and notes that similar proposals advanced in the past only to fail during the federal budget process “and fights over the budget cuts and revenue increases needed to offset the retirement savings bills’ projected effects.” Major provisions of the legislation include: allowing individuals to contribute to IRAs beyond age 70½; helping plan participants transfer a plan lifetime income feature from one plan to another employer-sponsored retirement plan, or to an IRA; requiring plan sponsors to disclose to participants how much monthly retirement income their assets might produce; tax credits for small employers that launch a retirement plan with an automatic enrollment feature; and allowing small employers to participate in multiple employer defined contribution retirement plans, or MEPS.