March 19, 2020 01:47 PM

Empower calls for regulatory guidance, relief for retirement savers

Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been handling economic relief in wake of the coronavirus. Empower Retirement is asking for relief for American retirement savers.

Empower Retirement is calling on the Treasury Department and the IRS to issue regulatory guidance and relief packages for Americans saving for retirement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Empower's Letter

Read Empower's letter to the Treasury Department and IRS calling for relief for American retirement savers.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Empower asked the departments to allow:

Retirement plan participants to withdraw retirement savings early without a 10% tax.
Qualified disaster distributions in income over three years.
Withdrawals up to $100,000 from their qualified retirement plans with the income tax for the withdrawal spread out over three years.

"Empower is asking for relief that would make it easier for retirement plan participants, including individual retirement account owners, to access their retirement funds during this unprecedented time of novel coronavirus and resulting market volatility," said Edmund F. Murphy III, president and CEO, in a news release.

Empower's letter to the treasury >

As in previous times of disaster, Congress and regulatory agencies have taken swift action to provide assistance to Americans with retirement savings plans, such as the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017, which made it easier for affected retirement plan participants to access their retirement funds to recover from Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, which all occurred in 2017, Empower noted in its letter.

"We believe similar relief would be appropriate as Americans deal with the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 crisis," Empower said.

"During this extraordinary time, the ability for Americans to have access to cash is essential," Mr. Murphy said in the news release. "Empower stands ready to join industry leaders, lawmakers and government regulators to work out a solution that provides relief to American retirement savers."