Senate Bill Aims to Boost 401(k) Annuities, Small-Employer Retirement Plans

New bipartisan legislation in the Senate aims to increase the use of annuities in 401(k) plans and boost retirement-plan adoption by small employers through a particular type of defined-contribution plan known as an open multiple employer plan, reports InvestmentNews . The bill is nearly identical to legislation that unanimously passed the Senate Finance Committee in late 2016 but did not get a full vote on the Senate floor prior to the end of the congressional session. "It's like a laundry list of things that would make improvements to the retirement system," said Aron Szapiro, director of policy research at Morningstar. "I'm cautiously optimistic about the bill's prospects. It has a lot of bipartisan support, and I don't think they're reintroducing it for no reason."