Retirement security got some much needed attention in bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate this week.
The Retirement Security Act of 2019 was introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), with a goal of helping small businesses offer retirement plans to their employees and encourage individuals to save more for retirement.
“As the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, ensuring that more people are better prepared for retirement is one of my top priorities,” said Collins. “Our bipartisan legislation would significantly improve the financial security of many Americans by reducing the cost and complexity of retirement plans, especially for small businesses, and encourage individuals to save more for retirement.”
“By giving more small businesses the support that they need to provide retirement plans to their employees and encouraging people in the workforce to save more for retirement, this bipartisan bill is an important step toward providing a secure retirement for more of our workers,” commented Hassan.
According to the bill’s sponsors, the Retirement Security Act of 2019 would:
- Enable more businesses to join multiple employer plans (MEPs) to offer retirement programs to their employees by not requiring a nexus between otherwise unrelated businesses.
- Make MEPs a more attractive option for small businesses by eliminating the one-bad-apple concern that members of a MEP could lose their tax benefits if one employer in a MEP fails to meet the minimum criteria necessary for retirement plans to obtain tax benefits.
- Reduce the cost of maintaining a retirement plan by directing the Treasury Department to simplify, clarify and consolidate required notices to lessen costs.
- Simplify compliance for small businesses that choose to provide employees with employer matches on contributions up to 10% of pay, encouraging more generous retirement contributions by businesses.
