3 Annuity Rule Changes on IRI's New Wish List

The Insured Retirement Institute has an idea for helping clients move individual retirement account money into more interesting income annuities.

IRI also has ideas for building annuitization options into 401(k) plans and other employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans.

The Washington-based group has included the ideas in its new 2023 Federal Retirement Security Blueprint.

What It Means

Your clients could soon get a new way to use the money in an IRA or 401(k) plan account.

IRI

IRI is one of the groups that helped lobby for passage of key financial services provisions included in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act and the Secure 2.0 Act.

One of the ideas in the blueprint, creating national rules for remote online notarizations, was included in a bill, H.R. 1059, that sailed through the House on a voice vote just hours after IRI unveiled the blueprint.

House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., emphasized Tuesday, during a committee bill markup meeting, that he wants the committee to work in a bipartisan way to pass bills.

McHenry’s focus on getting things done could make this a good time for IRI and other insurance industry organizations to pass bills.

The Annuity Provisions

The IRI blueprint includes a wide range of ideas, including proposals for requiring all but the smallest employers to enroll workers in retirement plans automatically, allowing caregivers who leave the workforce temporarily to make extra contributions, updating electronic document distribution rules and making retirement plans available to cannabis-based businesses.

Three provisions directly relate to retail annuities or in-plan annuities.