Nationwide Financial Services supports Congressional legislation to help small business' employees plan for retirement
Proposed bill will make it easier for small businesses to offer employees retirement plans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2010
Contact:
Erica Lewis (704) 896-5652
lewise6@nationwide.com
Jeff Whetzel (614) 249-6354
whetzej@nationwide.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With half of U.S. households ‘at risk’ of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement1, Nationwide Financial today stated it’s support for the introduction of the Small Businesses Add Value for Employees (SAVE) Act, which will make it easier for small businesses to establish and maintain a retirement plan for their employees. H.R. 4742 was sponsored by Ron Kind (D-WI) and David Reichert (R-WA).
“To help solve the current retirement crisis, we need to work together
to improve access to retirement plans for all Americans,” said Kirt
Walker, president and Chief Operating Officer of Nationwide Financial.
“The SAVE Act contains innovative and thoughtful provisions that will
remove many of the barriers that prevent small businesses from offering
their employees a retirement plan.”
Walker said the SAVE Act legislation will aid small businesses and their
employees by:
Improving Retirement Plan Access – Half of the U.S. workforce
does not have access to an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, according to
the Employee Benefit Research Institute. This coverage issue exists
because small businesses need to reach a point of business maturity or
critical mass to absorb the cost and administration of the current 401(k)
retirement plan. The SAVE Act helps alleviate this issue by encouraging
small businesses to pool together to offer multiple small employer plans
that are much less expensive than single employer plans.
Maintaining Fiduciary Protection– By encouraging plan sponsors to
work within the current defined contribution system, this legislation
extends important fiduciary protections that do not exist with other
retirement accounts to millions of Americans. It also enables small
businesses to easily transition to a traditional 401(k) retirement plan
as the business matures.
“The SAVE Act adds important ideas to the retirement policy arena and
helps provide greater access to retirement plans for small businesses,”
said Anne Arvia, senior vice president of retirement plans for Nationwide
Financial. “With fifty percent of our country’s workers currently without
access to an employer-based retirement plan Nationwide strongly supports
initiatives like this that will help increase the retirement security for
all Americans.”
About Nationwide
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest
diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S.
and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of
personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance,
motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance,
administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions,
long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more
information, visit www.nationwide.com.
The Nationwide® Group Retirement Series includes unregistered group fixed and variable annuities and trust programs. The unregistered group fixed and variable annuities are issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Trust programs and trust services are offered by Nationwide Trust Company, FSB a division of Nationwide Bank®. Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, member FINRA. In MI only: Nationwide Investment Svcs. Corporation. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies, Home Office: Columbus, OH 43215-2220.
Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
1 National Retirement Risk Index, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, October 2009
