Claiming only 22 percent of workers at small firms currently have access to a workplace savings plan, Senate heavy hitters Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia, introduced legislation on Friday to help get more workers covered.
S. 3307 directs the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Treasury Department to allow employers and sole-proprietors participating in retirement plans administered the same way to file a single aggregated Form 5500, a required annual return that provides important compliance information to DOL and Treasury.
Under current law, despite sharing a common administrative framework, each individual plan is still required to file a separate Form 5500 to satisfy reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. S. 3307 will eliminate duplicative reporting by plan administrators, which will reduce costs for small businesses that maintain retirement plans. To file an aggregated Form 5500, the retirement plans would need to have the same trustee, fiduciary, plan administrator, plan year and investment menu.
“We know that when employers provide their employees with access to retirement plans, approximately 80 percent of them contribute,” Collins said in a statement. “Our legislation will help promote retirement security by making it easier and less expensive for small businesses to establish retirement plans, increasing their accessibility to employees and helping to ensure that those who worked hard for decades do not spend their retirement in poverty.”
A 2016 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that only 22 percent of workers at small firms have access to a workplace savings plan or pension, compared to 74 percent at firms with 500 or more employees. For smaller employers, offering a retirement plan can be expensive and complex.
“Increasing access to workplace retirement plans is a crucial step in providing a secure retirement to millions of Americans,” Warner added. “When workers have access to a retirement plan through their employer, nearly 80 percent choose to participate – compared to just 10 percent who do without access through their employers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
To provide DOL and Treasury time to implement this change, the proposal has an effective date of no later than January 1, 2020.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
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