Advocacy and Thought Leadership

The following are policies we are working on in Congress and within the industry.

FEDERAL POLICY

Availability of Collective Investment Trust Funds (CITs) in 403(b) Plans
Amending the Internal Revenue Code and federal securities laws to provide access to CITs to participants in 403(b) plans to create parity with 457, 401(a) and 401(k) plan participants.

Retiree Health Savings Plans
Advocating a technical correction to permit non-spousal/non-dependent beneficiaries to be named for retiree health savings plans as well as changes to permit the addition of elective contribution features to add flexibility for plan sponsors and participants looking to address critical health care costs in retirement.

STATE POLICY

Auto features — Championing automatic enrollment and escalation for local and state employees
Automatic enrollment and automatic escalation for local and state government plan participants generally are driven by state level policy. Currently, only seven states and the District of Columbia explicitly offer automatic enrollment and/or automatic escalation for employees in supplemental defined contribution retirement plans. Whether a defined contribution plan, such as a 457 or 401(a) plan, is supplemental or primary, adding automatic enrollment and automatic escalation features in combination with a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) (such as an age based target date funds) is a highly effective way to help employees meet their retirement savings goals and avoid the cognitive biases that often prevent employees from enrolling on their own.