1214 EBRI on Twitter: @EBRI or http://twitter.com/EBRI EBRI RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EBRI-RSS News from EBRI th 1100 13 St. NW ? Suite 878 ? Washington, DC 20005 (202) 659-0670 ? www.ebri.org ? Fax: (202) 775-6312 DATE: June 12, 2018 CONTACT: Sara Bridwell, EBRI Media Relations – bridwell@ebri.org Jack VanDerhei, EBRI Research Director – vanderhei@ebri.org How Would Retirement-Reform Proposals Impact Retirement Income Adequacy? WASHINGTON – The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has just released new research that examines the impact of various retirement-reform proposals on aggregate ® retirement deficits. While EBRI’s Retirement Security Projection Model, (RSPM) shows that most policy initiatives would have limited impact for those already on the verge of retirement, the reduction in retirement deficits could be significant for younger age cohorts. “For the youngest age cohort simulated (those currently ages 35-39), RSPM shows that the reductions in retirement deficits would be as much as 23 percent under the Automatic Retirement Plan Act of 2017 (assuming no optouts),” said EBRI Research Director Jack VanDerhei, the author of the report. “The Issue Brief also examines the impact various retirement-reform proposals,” he said, “including a federal auto Individual Retirement Account (IRA) program, such as the one proposed under President Obama’s 2015 Budget; a universal defined- contribution scenario that assumes employers who do not currently offer their employees a qualified retirement plan will choose a type of defined contribution plan and a set of generosity parameters similar to employers in their size range; and an auto-portability scenario in which an inactive participant’s retirement account from a former employer’s retirement plan would be automatically combined with their active account in a new employer’s plan.” The paper also analyzes the impact of reductions in the 402(g) and/or 415(c) limits as well as the three major forms of leakage in the 401(k) system: cashouts, loan defaults and hardship withdrawals. The full Issue Brief is available here. And to access the Fast Facts, click here. VanDerhei will be th discussing his findings during an upcoming webinar on June 20 , at 3:00 p.m. ET. Attendance is limited and you can register here. The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, DC, that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and financial security issues. EBRI does not lobby and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its members and sponsors, which include a broad range of public, private, for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For more information go to www.ebri.org or visit the web site of EBRI’s affiliated American Savings Education Council at www.asec.org ###