During a 3-day meeting of the ERISA Advisory Council, experts explored the possibility of making lifetime income options, which SECURE 2.0 encourages employers to include in their retirement plans, more prevalent as qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs) in 401(k) plans.

Established by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the ERISA Advisory Council advises the Secretary of Labor and submits recommendations regarding the secretary's functions under ERISA.

Defined contribution plan participants might be defaulted into a product in which approximately 10% of their plan balance at age 65 – "not your entire nest egg" – is used to purchase a deferred annuity that does not begin to pay until they are ages 80-85, said Olivia Mitchell, executive director of the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, at the ERISA meeting.