Treasury and DoL eyeing regulation of retirement income

The Labor and Treasury departments are discussing jointly submitting a request for comment from members of the retirement income industry to determine if there needs to be regulation of the market. “There has been an increasing interest in the pension and savings community in the notion that we can do more to help people manage their funds in retirement,” J. Mark Iwry, senior adviser to the secretary of the Treasury and deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy, said in an interview today. The agencies don't have a timetable for when they will submit the request for comment. A call to Gloria Della, a Labor Department spokeswoman, had not been returned by deadline. Washington insiders said that the Labor Department and Treasury want to get a better sense of how products like annuities can be used within 401(k) plans in a seamless manner. “We are expecting that this request for information from DOL and Treasury will ask what can be done to better facilitate income options within defined-contribution plans,” said James M. Delaplane Jr., a partner at Davis & Harman LLP. Meanwhile, Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., yesterday introduced a bill that would require employers to disclose to employees how much in retirement income they could expect from their defined-contribution plan account if they rolled it into an annuity product. “In our 401(k) system, it is not enough that participants make the choice to save. Then they have to decide how much to save, where to invest their savings, and how to make the best use of it when they retire,” said Mr. Kohl, in a statement announcing the bill. “This bill will help millions of Americans make the best choices for a secure retirement.”