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The retirement planning community is anxiously awaiting a final rule from the Labor Department on the delivery of lifetime income illustrations on plan participants' benefit statements, as the interim rule that takes effect in September is flawed because the illustrations are confusing, according to ERISA lawyers from Faegre Drinker.
The interim rule implements Section 203 of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act of 2019, which was signed into law on Dec. 20, 2019. The Secure Act requires that participants be given lifetime income illustrations on their benefit statements — for instance, on their quarterly 401(k) plan statement. The illustrations are designed to help workers estimate how their current savings in a defined contribution plan translates into lifetime monthly payments.
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Melanie Waddell
Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.
