House Panel Passes Retirement Bill, Boosts Annuities

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee this week passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, which makes it easier to offer annuities in 401(k) and 403(b) plans and ups the age for taking required minimum distributions from 70.5 years to 72 years, reports ThinkAdvisor . Committee Chair Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said Americans "currently face a retirement income crisis, with too many people in danger of not having enough savings to maintain their standard of living and avoid sliding into poverty. The SECURE Act goes a long way in addressing this problem by making it easier for Americans to save." The House panel is pushing to bolster retirement savings, mainly by expanding 401(k) retirement plans to more workers. The legislation would make it easier for employers to offer annuities in their plans while removing some obstacles on Individual Retirement Accounts. The legislation would also make it easier to expand 401(k)-style plans among small employers, many of whom don't offer these benefits, by permitting companies to join together to form multi-employer plans and save on administration expenses. Another provision would provide an employer credit of up to $5,000 to defray start-up costs. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also unveiled the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019 as a companion measure to the SECURE Act.