With the real-life perfect storm of Hurricane Sandy looming outside, this year's ASPPA Annual Conference in Washington D.C. is standing bravely. But organization president and CEO Brian Graff said a much larger issue is on the horizon: the prospect of major tax reform may pose a bigger long-term threat to those in the retirement business.

"If they slash and burn this system to help try to get lower tax rates, we all get burned," Graff said. "Again, we are being used as a piggy bank to pay for other stupid stuff."

Speaking at Sunday's opening session, Graff rallied the troops and debuted the organization's ambitious grassroots marketing campaign designed to elicit a quarter-million 401(k) participant-written emails to Congress, protesting potential cuts to tax-deferred status of their retirement plans.