Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC’s Jim Cramer rules are “being moved” to allow for easier access to 401(k) assets in the coronavirus driven economic slowdown.
“You know, savings mean everything to American workers. Can they access their money in 401(k), IRA right now without penalties?” Cramer asked Mnuchin on Squawk Box Monday morning.
“Jim, we have in the legislation a bunch of changes that can help people with 401(k)s and we’re moving certain rules when people are forced to take money out and other things,” Mnuchin replied. “So, and that has huge bipartisan support and those types of things in the bill.”
Cramer then asked about the political “brinkmanship” currently occurring, to which the Treasury Secretary replied he was on his way to meet with Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senator Schumer(D-N.Y.) to review exactly where they are in the agreement process.
“We need to get this thing passed today,” Mnuchin said. “So, we are going to put aside partisan politics. Mitch has done a great job on bringing together everybody. We were there all day yesterday. And my message is: this needs to get passed today.”
Stimulus funds
Responding to a question about if and when a stimulus agreement is reached, and how quickly small businesses could access funds, Mnuchin said, “I would say they shouldn’t lay people off. And I would say that within the next week, we will have a program up and running that small businesses can go into banks easily in a fast track basis and get that cash flow. And I can tell you, I already have the IRS working on direct deposits for hard-working Americans. And I expect that that money will be out in the next two to three weeks in people’s checking accounts or savings accounts. It’s a massive amount.”
The issue of stimulus checks to individuals and families was also raised.
“It’s a little bit over $3,000 for a family of four, there’s some mechanisms and phaseouts and things like that,” Mnuchin added. “But this is a massive amount of liquidity, you can think of this as bridge loans to American workers as we set up the other programs. So, the President is fully determined. We are using all our tools to pump massive amounts of liquidity, working with the Federal Reserve to support the U.S. economy through unprecedented situations.”
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.
