Plan sponsors might benefit from SECURE Act provisions -- if they knew about them
Among plan sponsors who say they are familiar with the act, many are still unfamiliar with provisions that improve access to in-plan lifetime income solutions.
Only half of all plan sponsors are familiar with the provisions of the SECURE Act of 2019, according to the TIAA Retirement Insights survey for May.
“It’s understandable that amid more than a year of economic uncertainty, plan sponsors would shift their focus toward meeting the immediate, day-to-day financial needs of their employees over longer-term savings goals,” said Doug Chittenden, head of client relationships at TIAA.
“However, there is a surging interest in guaranteed lifetime income in retirement and an opportunity for plan sponsors to familiarize themselves with available in-plan guaranteed lifetime income options and SECURE Act provisions ahead of further retirement legislation likely to come later this year.”
Among the key findings of the survey:
- Nearly half of all plan sponsors and 55 percent of 403b providers say the passage of the SECURE Act increased their interest in offering in-plan guaranteed lifetime income options.
- Among plan sponsors who say they are familiar with the act, many are still unfamiliar with specific provisions that can improve access to in-plan lifetime income solutions, including safe-harbor protections (56 percent), annual lifetime income disclosure requirements (54 percent) and the provision that allows for the portability of annuities for participants (53 percent).
- Although eight in 10 plan sponsors say they are satisfied with their current default investment option, 52 percent said they were “satisfied but open to new options to replace it.”
- Plan sponsors should think about the default and auto features that can fight inertia and help participants clearly understand the implications for their savings, which can improve retirement outcomes.
- Three-fourths of plan sponsors would be extremely or very interested in a product if there were a new type of target-date fund that, as the target date gets closer, would start allocating assets into an investment that provides plan participants with the option to receive guaranteed lifetime income anytime, typically at retirement.
- A large majority (87 percent) of plan sponsors believe an annual lifetime income disclosure is a good idea, and three-fourths believe that it will increase employee interest in acquiring in-plan guaranteed lifetime income.
- Enabling participants to have adequate income in retirement is the biggest influence on plan design (34 percent).
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