Senate Passes Bill to Expand 401(k) Roth Access, But…

Last week the U.S. Senate approved a bill that would permit 401(k) plan participants to convert pre-tax contributions to a Roth account within their 401(k) plan (see Senate Bill Would Permit Roth Conversion Within 401(k)s).  However, the language in the bill limits such conversions to “distributable events” – that is, only applicable to monies that would be eligible for a distribution.  Moreover, the bill would seem to suggest that the participant must first request a distribution, receive it, and then redeposit it to the 401(k) in Roth status.      

Groups supporting the measure – including the Profit Sharing / 401k Council of America, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the ERISA Industry Committee, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) – had noted that participants could only take advantage of a Roth conversion opportunity created by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) if they move their savings out of their employer plans⁽¹⁾.  The groups had noted that this increased the opportunities for leakage, “exposing most of them to higher fees in the retail environment, and foregoing other benefits of employer plans, such as fiduciary oversight, spousal benefit protections, and high quality investment options at lower costs.”

The groups had requested that 401(k) and 403(b) plans be put on a parity with IRAs, so that a participant could convert traditional retirement savings (i.e., employee elective deferrals and after-tax contributions, and employer contributions) into Roth savings within their 401(k) or 403(b) plan and to roll monies from all eligible retirement plans, including Roth IRAs, into the designated Roth account of a 401(k) or 403(b) plan. 

The groups had also sought to exempt Roth 401(k) and 403(b) money from the minimum distribution rules in the same manner that Roth IRAs are not subject to those rules.

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