Overview
Life insurers are among the nation's leaders in providing retirement security to American workers through the products and services they provide to defined benefit and defined contribution plans. ACLI works with policy-makers to explore and develop creative public and private sector solutions to meet the retirement needs and expectations of the American public.

Earlier this year, the United States Labor and Treasury Departments filed a joint Request for Information (RFI) on lifetime income options. ACLI responded to the request, unveiling new survey results demonstrating strong public support for lifetime income options being offered from the workplace as well as the desire to see illustrations of how retirement savings translates into monthly income. ACLI research shows that 90 percent of respondents want the ability to use their workplace retirement plans to generate a guaranteed income stream for life.

Additionally, ACLI testified before the Departments in September at a joint hearing focused on ways the government and employers can help employees achieve guaranteed lifetime income after retirement. ACLI recommended that employees should be provided with an illustration of how their lump-sum retirement account balances translate into guaranteed monthly lifetime income, and advocated for the creation of a fiduciary safe harbor for employers for the selection of lifetime income issuers or products.

ACLI Position
ACLI supports legislation that would give workers information on how their workplace retirement plan can translate into guaranteed lifetime income. The Lifetime Income Disclosure Act (S. 2832), which ACLI strongly supports, was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.). The House of Representatives included the legislative language in the Small Businesses Add Value for Employees (SAVE) Act of 2009 (H.R. 4742) introduced by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash.).

The legislation would amend ERISA by calling for plan sponsors to illustrate how current account balances translate into guaranteed monthly income, based on regulation to be developed by the DOL, and will help workers make better retirement planning decisions and contains important protections for employers when providing illustrations to their workforce.

In addition to ACLI’s strong support, the measure is endorsed by the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), the American Academy of Actuaries, and David John, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and Principal of the Retirement Security Project.