Annuity Uptake Among 401(k) Savers Tests ERISA Limits at 50 (Correct)

Retirement savers are increasingly interested in products that guarantee lifetime income, as 401(k)s and pensions provide new avenues to move plan assets into annuities, raising existential questions about ERISA 50 years after its enactment.

The federal benefits statute’s half-century anniversary marks a moment when defined contribution plans, which didn’t exist when the Employee Retirement Income Security Act was signed into law Sept. 2, 1974, have come to dominate the landscape of workplace retirement offerings.

Despite the popularity of 401(k) and 403(b) plans with employers, workers are concerned that those self-directed solutions won’t provide enough savings to sustain them through retirement, ...