Retirement contributions are among the most essential tools available to workers to help them live a better life after they retire. However, not every worker decides to use them because life can get in the way, and many cannot afford to lose even one dollar on future planning. The truth is that life sometimes takes priority. To remedy this, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declared that employees of an unnamed company might begin allocating some of their employer match to student debt repayment or health reimbursement accounts, in addition to their traditional 401(k).
As a backdrop, the unnamed company requested that the IRS allow employees to choose how their employer match contribution was used after discovering that employees were not taking full advantage of it. The government investigated the issue and determined that, at the start of each year, employees can choose where to transfer their cash, with portions going to approved funds such as student loan debt repayments or health reimbursement accounts, as well as retirement accounts. If no option is made, the employer match is automatically applied to retirement funds.
The consequences of the IRS ruling
Although the verdict favors the anonymous corporation, the rules have yet to be widely enforced and will remain so for some time. Only this corporation has the authority to change the way contributions work while the IRS investigates the situation.
Whether or whether this is a smart concept needs to be seen; most Americans do not have enough money for a comfortable retirement, and removing further opportunities to save is counterproductive. The corporation maintained that even if they had employer-matched pension plans, employees did not take advantage of them since they had a lot of debt to pay off before considering retirement savings.
Medical and student loan debt are epidemics in America, with such high interest rates that it is nearly impossible to get ahead of them unless all resources are directed toward paying them down. Obtaining support from their employer would benefit persons in debt because they may perhaps pay it off much faster by donating “double”.
According to Fidelity, 22% of employees do not claim the full company match on 401(k) plans. Employees would be better equipped to prioritize their goals and be in a more solid position if their options were more diverse.
The disadvantage of transferring 401(k) funds away from retirement
Compounding interest is the key to accumulating savings, especially because Americans are underprepared for retirement. Losing out on more opportunities to save could put them even further behind. Workers who prioritize student debts or medical debt in an attempt to reduce a monthly bill or become debt-free before devoting all of their money to retirement may be missing out on a higher return on investment. Especially when both medical debt and student loans typically include tax-deductible interest.
According to recent Federal Reserve data, one in every four Americans has nothing saved for retirement, including 27% who are already retired, enabling more money to be redistributed may exacerbate the situation and leave even more people unprepared for the future. The Federal Reserve also noted that the median retirement savings for households with people aged 55 to 65 is $185,000, which is insufficient for a comfortable retirement, and that lowering those numbers even further in the future by redistributing employer-matched savings will hurt retirees.
Because the experiment is not yet available to all firms, we will have to wait to see the findings from this anonymous company. Only by observing if employees use the new model will we know whether it is a success or if the IRS should start over.
