允許退休員工“試駕”年金[外文翻譯]

1、外文文獻(xiàn)翻譯譯文題目： a公司基于員工穩(wěn)定性企業(yè)年金方案設(shè)計(jì) 原文：allowing retiring employees to “test drive” an annuityby melissa kahn and jody strakoschif defined contribution (dc) plan sponsors havent already done so, they soon will be giving serious consideration to providing retiring plan participants with options to convert

2、at least a portion of their savings into retirement income. only time will tell whether employers will be encouraged to make those options available to participants or required to do so. either way, trial annuitizationa concept that builds on the dc industrys success with automatic enrollment and au

3、tomatic increaseis worth exploring further and may be a concept whose time has come.changing demographics and the shifting retirement landscape present current and future generations of retirees with significant challenges. many u.s. workers are at risk of not having adequate retirement income, and

4、the difficult economic environment has only exacerbated the problem.the move from traditional defined benefit (db) plans, which typically accrue benefits for workers based on years of service and earnings, to defined contribution (dc) plans such as 401(k) plans, in which participants finance their o

5、wn retirements, has shifted the burden of retirement savings from employer to employee. yet, dc plans generally were never intended to serve as employees primary source of retirement savings, nor were they designed to provide guaranteed lifetime income.today, employers are grappling with the challen

6、ge of ensuring that the money their employees saved in these plans is managed so that individuals do not outlive their savings. one of the most important decisions employers are contemplating right now is how to help 401(k) plan participants convert a portion of their retirement savings into guarant

7、eed lifelong income. this shift in focus is generally thought of as “changing the conversation” with employees to help them recognize that dc plans now need to be thought of as “retirement income” plans.there has recently been increased attention around annuities. prompted by discussion at the feder

8、al level about the benefits of adding an annuity to individual retirement portfolios. at the heart of the discussion is the fact that consumers need to protect themselves from outliving their savings by adding a reliable. guaranteed retirement income source to their retirement fundsretirement funds

9、which have diminished because of the decline of pension plans and have been further depleted by the recent financial crisis. this broad recognition of a need to establish a personal pension brings to light the value of immediate annuities as part of the solution to the retirement savings risk that m

10、illions of families are facing. prior to 2008. the addition of an income annuity to a retirement plan had started to become a part of planning decisions.then the great recession took hold the stock market declined, losing more than half its value. the average 401(k) and ira values plummeted, negativ

11、ely impacting retirement plans, and for many retire ment-aged people, who have less time to recoup their losses, it hinted at disaster. in fact, the market meltdown caused the reduction of retirement nest eggs by 25% to 40% in many cases, meaning a $5k).0c)0 retirement nest egg was worth as little a

12、s $3(k).()00. generating significantly less income in retirement. while markets have recovered somewhat. many portfolios are still down25% or more.access to annuities as a distribution option is limitedalthough the majority of workers today are covered by dc plans, nearly 86% of these plans do not o

13、ffer the option to annuitize assets when workers retire, according to hewitts trends and experience in 401(k) plans 2009 (hewitt associates, 2009). many plans have eliminated the annuity distribution option for a number of reasons. chief among them are fiduciary liability concerns and the administra

14、tive issues related to offering annuities.the uncertainty of plan sponsors precise fiduciary duties when offering annuities to their workers has historically been a chief deterrent to including annuities as a distribution option. in october 2008, the u.s. department of labor (dol)as directed by thea

15、nnuities come in a variety of forms, and new products are being developed by the insurance industry. well-known annuity products include single-life annuity: provides fixed monthly benefit payments guaranteed for life. no survivor benefit is paid after the annuitants death (also called a straight-li

16、fe annuity). joint and survivor annuity: provides fixed monthly benefit payments guaranteed for life and, upon the annuitants death, continues partial payments to the surviving spouse or other beneficiary for the rest of his or her life. inflation-indexed annuity: provides monthly benefit payments g

17、uaranteed for life that increase to keep up with inflation. annual increases may be cost-of-living increases or linked to the consumer price index. variable annuity: provides monthly benefit payments guaranteed for life that may increase or decrease based on performance of underlying investments the

18、 purchaser selects. deferred annuity: monthly benefit payments are purchased over time but are not scheduled to begin until a person retires and then are guaranteed for life. longevity annuity: a type of deferred annuity generally purchased at the time of retirement that provides a guaranteed stream

19、 of income typically starting after a late age, such as 85.source: u.s. government accountability office, july 2009.pension protection act of 2006 (ppa)issued a final regulation that clarifies the fiduciary standard as it relates to the selection of an annuity provider for the purpose of benefit dis

20、tributions from individual account plans such as 401(k) plans. the regulation, which is structured as a safe harbor, sets out clear factors that should be used in assessing the annuity providers ability to make future payments under the contract and in reviewing the costs of the annuity in relation

21、to the benefits and services provided under the contract.annuities, when offered, often overlookedin the small percentage of plans that do allow participants to annuitize, most participants continue to take the lump-sum option. only about 1% of 401(k) participants choose to convert their savings int

22、o annuities upon retirement, according to hewitt associates. its unfortunate that participants often overlook annuities at the point of retirement.the chief advantage of an income annuity is that it provides guaranteed lifetime income. annuities are the only product that can pay guaranteed income fo

23、r life; no other product can offer this benefit. academics generally say that putting money into an annuity can help a person meet basic expenses in retirement.another key advantage of income annuities is that they generally have the ability to produce the highest level of guaranteed income per doll

24、ar of assets, which provides the annuitant with the ability to maximize income. for example, an average retiree would need to save about one-third more to replicate the power of the lifetime income annuity. with this taken care of, remaining assets can be more efficiently invested to potentially gro

25、w an individuals overall portfolio. while a retiree trades off a bit of liquidity for the portion of assets put into an annuity, he or she likely will have more income to spend overall.putting these advantages together means that income annuities can perform the double task of maximizing current inc

26、ome, while also avoiding the risk of running out of money later.annuities are ideally suited for the large majority of individuals. individuals cannot self-insure the risk of outliving their money because they cannot accurately predict how long they will live. whereas an individual can decrease his

27、investment risk by changing his investment strategy, there is no way that an individual can, on his or her own, reduce longevity risk.furthermore, the 2009 metlife study of the american dream found that without a steady paycheck, 50% of americans say they could not meet their financial obligations f

28、or more than a month. of that, a disturbing 28% couldnt support themselves for more than two weeks of unemployment (metlife inc., 2009a). as employers consider whether to offer dc plan participants the ability to create retirement income at the point of retirement, public policy makers are paying lo

29、ts of attention to these issues. most recently, dol and the u.s. department of the treasury issued a request for information to explore, among other issues, ways to increase lifetime income and/or annuitization so that 401(k) plan participants have an opportunity to convert at least a portion of ret

30、irement savings into lifelong income.automatic trial income gaining attentionone concept gaining attention is automatic trial income at the point of retirementoften referred to as trial annuitization. this concept of auto income builds upon the success the dc industry has seen with automatic enrollm

31、ent and automatic increase. these concepts, endorsed by ppa, acknowledge the powerful role of inertia. common wisdomand many studies inform us that participants dont take the appropriate actions to provide themselves with the best outcomes. participants often say, “please do it for me.”the general i

32、dea of trial annuitization is that allocating a portion of a retiring employees plan assets automatically into a lifetime income annuity at the point of retirement essentially gives retirees an opportunity to “test drive” the benefits of receiving a retirement income “paycheck.” and, as previously s

33、tated, we know that americans depend on their paychecks to meet financial obligations.a paper released in 2008 by the retirement security project, a washington, d.c.-based think tank, entitled “increasing annuitization in 401(k) plans with automatic trial income,” sets forth a proposal that would in

34、crease the role of lifetime income products, such as income annuities, in an effort to help retirees enjoy a secure retirement.1 the authors explained that automatic features in 401(k) plans have shown that the power of inertia can be used to significantly improve outcomes without restricting retire

35、es choices.2 specifically, the paper proposes the following: a substantial portion of assets in 401(k)-type accounts (generally considered to be no more than 50% of the account balance) would be automatically directed into an income program for a twoyear trial period (the default trial arrangement),

36、 unless workers affirmatively elect a different form of payout permitted under the retirement plan. there would be trial income of 24 consecutive monthly payments. after the trial period, participants would regain the ability to opt for alternative forms of payment. those who made no affirmative cho

37、ice within a specified period would continue to receive income payments because the program would convert automatically from trial-period income to permanent income.under the retirement security project proposal, plan sponsors could choose to administer the payout of the income program or arrange fo

38、r an outside provider to offer it. plan sponsors could determine the portion of the account balance that would be subject to the default trial-period income option and would also choose the provider or providers and type of default trial income and post-trial income products, subject to regulatory g

39、uidelines.university of illinois professor jeffrey r. brown in 2009 made a similar proposal, entitled “automatic lifetime income as a path to retirement income security.” he suggested that employers be encouraged to adopt an automatic annuitization plan under which, when an employee makes an initial

40、 request for a (nonhardship) withdrawal from a dc plan, the employee would be notified that he or she is being automatically enrolled into a (partial) annuitization program. the program would convert half of the participants total 401(k) account balance into a joint and 100% survivor annuity for a m

41、arried person or a single life annuity for an unmarried individual. these annuities could be immediate annuities subject to a trial period, a series of laddered annuities with payouts that commence over a several-year period after the initial distribution decisions, or various integrated, in-plan an

42、nuity options that allow participants to invest in deferred annuity contracts during the accumulation phase. the authorsmelissa kahn is a vice president with metlife, the largest u.s. life insurer and a leading provider of employee benefits. based in metlifes washington, d.c. government relations of

43、fice, kahn is responsible for representing the company before federal legislators and regulators on all issues relating to retirement income security, including issues affecting qualified pension plans, social security and long-term care. she also provides guidance on international retirement securi

44、ty issues.jody strakosch is the national director for metlifes retirement products group. she is responsible for developing and servicing strategic alliances through cobranding and private labeling partnerships for retirement income programs with major financial services firms. strakosch has been sp

45、earheading this effort for the last six years and has been with metlife for over 25 years.one of the most important decisions employers are contemplating right now is how to help 401(k) plan participants convert a portion of their retirement savings into guaranteed lifelong income. this shift in foc

46、us is generally thought of as “changing the conversation” with employees to help them recognize that dc plans now need to be thought of as “retirement income” plans.one potential way that plan sponsors can ensure financial readiness in retirement is to take “control” of the employer match. sponsors

47、could use this trial income concept for their match, thereby ensuring that employees will have a baseline of retirement income. this follows along the philosophical lines of db plans, yet as with all automatic default programs, participants may opt out if the trial income is not the best solution fo

48、r their situation.interestingly, in its 2009 study of employee benefits trends, metlife found that 50% of surveyed employees voice an interest in their employers providing ways to convert retirement plan lump sums into income for life. on the other hand, only 21% of employers have expressed interest

49、 in having their company provide solutions that accomplish this goal (metlife inc., 2009b).as millions of american workers are approaching retirement, ensuring that they dont run out of money in retirement has become a major societal and workplace issue. whether the specific concept of trial annuiti

50、zation will have the imprimatur of the obama administration remains to be seen. what is clear is that plan sponsors, if they havent already done so, will soon be giving serious consideration to the ways in which their plan participants will be able to convert at least a portion of their savings into

51、 retirement income. only time will tell whether employers will be encouraged to make those options available to participants or required to do so. either way, trial annuitization is a concept worth exploring further, and it may be a concept whose time has come.endnotes1. the retirement security proj

52、ect is supported by the pew charitable trusts in partnership with georgetown universitys public policy institute and the brookings institution.2. the studys authors are william g. gale, director of the retirement security project and the arjay and frances miller chair in federal economic policy at t

53、he brookings institution; j. mark iwry, now senior advisor to the secretary of the treasury, deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy for the office of tax policy; david c. john, managing director of the retirement security project and a senior research fellow with the thomas a. r

54、oe institute for economic policy studies at the heritage foundation; and lina walker, now strategic policy advisor with aarps public policy institute.referencesbrown, jeffrey r., 2009. “automatic lifetime income as a path to retirement income security,” prepared for the american council of life insu

55、rers. gale, william g., j. mark iwry, david c. john and lina walker, 2008. “increasing annuitization in 401(k) plans with automatic trial income,” the retirement security project. hewitt associates, 2007. hewitts trends and experience in 401(k) plans 2007. metlife inc. (2009a), 2009 metlife study of

56、 the american dream. metlife inc. (2009b), seventh annual metlife study of employee benefits trends: findings from the national survey of employers and employees. u.s. government accountability office report, 2009. private pensions: alternative approaches could address retirement risks faced by work

57、ers but pose trade-offs, 資料來(lái)源：melissa kahn, jody trakosch. benefits quarterlyj .2010(3):p15-18.譯文：允許退休員工“試駕”年金米麗莎卡恩和喬迪斯達(dá)如果實(shí)行繳費(fèi)確定型計(jì)劃，即使贊助商還沒(méi)有這樣做，但是他們會(huì)很快將給予認(rèn)真考慮，提供退休計(jì)劃參加者在退休后的收入轉(zhuǎn)換成至少有一部分儲(chǔ)蓄。讓時(shí)間告訴我們是否會(huì)鼓勵(lì)雇主讓這些選項(xiàng)提供給參加者或需要怎么做。無(wú)論哪種方式，試用年金-一個(gè)概念，在直流業(yè)界具有自動(dòng)注冊(cè)和自動(dòng)增加成功的基礎(chǔ)，是值得進(jìn)一步探討，并可能是一個(gè)概念的時(shí)代已經(jīng)到來(lái)。 統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)表明：目前,我們的子孫后

58、代正面臨著很大的挑戰(zhàn)。許多美國(guó)工人存在沒(méi)有足夠的退休收入的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，困難的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境只會(huì)加劇這一問(wèn)題。從傳統(tǒng)的待遇確定型計(jì)劃來(lái)看，收入和服務(wù)是根據(jù)工作者的工作年限而定的。而繳費(fèi)確定型計(jì)劃，即401（k）計(jì)劃，是指參加者自己的退休資金等已轉(zhuǎn)移由雇主向雇員負(fù)擔(dān)。然而，待遇確定型一般從來(lái)沒(méi)有打算作為員工的退休儲(chǔ)蓄的主要來(lái)源，也不是旨在提供終生保障收入。如今，雇主需要努力解決的問(wèn)題 ，是確保他們的錢應(yīng)用在這些計(jì)劃的管理中，使員工個(gè)人活的沒(méi)有儲(chǔ)存款時(shí)間長(zhǎng)。最重要的決定之一是雇主考慮如何將401（k）計(jì)劃的參與者的積蓄轉(zhuǎn)換成終身保障他們的退休收入的一部分儲(chǔ)蓄。這種重心的轉(zhuǎn)移，幫助他們認(rèn)識(shí)到，特區(qū)的計(jì)劃現(xiàn)在需要的

59、是對(duì)“退休后的收入”計(jì)劃的思考。因?yàn)槲覀儸F(xiàn)有的退休金計(jì)劃，比如401（k）之類的，在大蕭條中跌落了超過(guò)25%（我記得好象是多少萬(wàn)億）然后需要推出個(gè)更可靠的計(jì)劃，原來(lái)5000左右的退休金，現(xiàn)在只能拿到3000了，也就是金融危機(jī) 使得很多比如401計(jì)劃跌了25%以上，消費(fèi)者需要一個(gè)更加可靠的，保障的退休金來(lái)源去保護(hù)他們自己。獲得養(yǎng)老金作為分布的選擇是有限的雖然大多數(shù)工人今天被繳費(fèi)確定型計(jì)劃所覆蓋，但是近86的員工，在退休時(shí)不被提供這些選擇。當(dāng)工人退休，根據(jù)翰威特的發(fā)展趨勢(shì)與401（k）的體驗(yàn)計(jì)劃2009（翰威特咨詢公司，2009）。許多計(jì)劃被取消了，原因主要是受托責(zé)任的問(wèn)題和有關(guān)年金的行政問(wèn)題。該計(jì)劃贊助商受托責(zé)任的不確定性時(shí)時(shí)向職工提供行政威懾包