WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ranking Member Ron Wyden of Oregon today introduced the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019 (RESA). The legislation would encourage employers to adopt new retirement plans and reduce the cost of operating retirement plans for their employees. The bill also includes new provisions to encourage workers to plan and save for retirement.
“Planning for retirement is important, yet challenging. The Retirement and Savings Act would help Americans get on the path of saving for a secure retirement during their working years while making sure their savings will last throughout their retirement. It also would make it easier and more cost-effective for small employers to sponsor a retirement plan for their employees,” Grassley said.
“Working families are struggling to save for retirement. To allow workers to start saving as early as possible, Congress needs to make it easier for more employers, particularly small employers, to offer retirement plans. Our legislation achieves that goal by allowing employers to band together when offering plans while also helping older Americans close the gap in their savings by contributing tax-free dollars to an IRA,” Wyden said.
RESA would reform retirement savings laws in several ways, including:
Bipartisan work on the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019 began in 2006. The Senate Finance Committee has held multiple hearings to discuss the retirement system over several Congresses. The Committee also has reviewed numerous proposals to improve the system, including ideas that came out of the Finance Committee’s Tax Reform Working Group on Savings and Investment in 2015. The Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019 is the result of the best ideas from those hearings and proposals and was unanimously approved by the Finance Committee in 2016.
A section-by-section summary of the legislation can be found HERE.
Text of the legislation can be found HERE.
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