American Retirement Association (ARA)

ARLINGTON, VA – Middle-class American retirement savers could pay the price of new legislation targeting financial transactions.

“It’s called the Wall Street Tax Act, but it’s really a Main Street savings attack,” said Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association.

While the legislation’s sponsors claim it is targeted at “unproductive and speculative” trading, the Wall Street Tax Act’s financial transactions tax (FTT) on the sale of stocks and bonds apparently includes those held within the trillions of dollars of retirement savings invested in mutual funds and collective investment trusts by pensions and 401(k)s.

“Every week millions of Americans sacrifice to set aside part of their hard-earned pay for retirement, investing those savings to help provide a secure financial future,” Graff explained.  “After years of attacking 401(k) plan fees, some members of Congress now want to charge 10 basis points every time a hard-working American contributes out of their pay into their 401(k).  And then charge another 10 basis points every time the account is rebalanced.  And then, another 10 basis points when that worker retires and sells some of those investments so they can maintain their standard of living”.

“We’re talking about the equivalent of an across-the-board fee increase on 401(k) plans,” Graff notes.  In fact, based on a 2015 report by the Obama Administration’s Council of Economic Advisors on the impact of 401(k) fees, this tax could reduce an American’s retirement savings by as much as 3% over their working life.

“It appears that some in Congress may think that the only people who invest are super rich,” Graff concludes.  “But there are 80 million American workers who are investing for their future in their 401(k).  At a time when there is so much concern about retirement income adequacy and the impact of 401(k) fees, it’s stunning that some members of Congress would attack the retirement savings of hard-working Americans.”

The American Retirement Association, based in the Washington, D.C. area, is a non-profit professional organization established to empower retirement plan professionals who are dedicated to building a better retirement for Americans. The American Retirement Association is comprised of five premier retirement industry associations; the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA), the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA), and the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).

Media Contact: Nevin E. Adams, JD, Chief Content Officer, American Retirement Association, 703.516.9300 Ext. 114, [email protected]

ARLINGTON, VA — The American Retirement Association’s (ARA’s) mission is to protect and strengthen our nation’s retirement plan system. With retirement issues looming large for the next Congress, the ARA has revamped its government affairs leadership team with two key additions.

Will Hansen joins in the new role of Chief Government Affairs Officer, effective January 7, and Allison Wielobob has been named General Counsel of the American Retirement Association, effective January 28. 

Hansen, an attorney with an LLM in Employee Benefits from The John Marshall Law School, joins from The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), where he was the Senior Vice President of Retirement and Compensation Policy, leading ERIC’s efforts to develop and advocate for retirement and compensation public policies priorities at the federal, state, and local levels. 

He joined ERIC from the Holland America Group where he served as Senior Manager of Global Employee Benefits overseeing employee benefit programs for five cruise brands under the Carnival Corporate umbrella.   Hansen previously served as the Executive Director of the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, as well as Legislative Counsel for Senator Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA), advising the Senator on tax, pension, budget, and social security issues, and as Legislative Director for Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  He also has experience as an employee benefits attorney with McDermott Will & Emery LLP, where he focused on qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.

Wielobob comes to the ARA from the Washington, D.C. office of international law firm Eversheds Sutherland.  Prior to that, for ten years, she worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, where she was on the staff of the Office of Regulations and Interpretations of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.  During her tenure at the Labor Department, she worked on ERISA fiduciary issues and many of the Department’s major initiatives, including retirement plan fee disclosure and default investment alternatives.

Wielobob, who has her Master of Laws (L.L.M.), Taxation from Georgetown University, and her J.D. from the James E. Beardsley School of Law at Temple University, also served as a legislation counsel for the Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress and as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.  She takes on the role previously held by Craig Hoffman, who served as General Counsel of the American Retirement Association for more than a decade.  Hoffman will join the San Francisco-based law firm of Trucker Huss APC in April.

“Craig has been instrumental as General Counsel in laying the foundation for the growth and impact of the ARA’s regulatory advocacy efforts, and we wish him well as he enters this next chapter of his professional life”, noted American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff.  “That said, we are thrilled to have retirement industry professionals like Will and Allison join our advocacy team at this critical time.  Their combined experience on the Hill, familiarity with the regulatory environment, their knowledge of our members’ concerns, and their passion for strengthening American workers’ retirement will be essential. The importance of the nation’s retirement plan system has never been more evident, and we anticipate an even higher level of retirement policy activity in the coming years”.

The American Retirement Association, based in the Washington, D.C. area, is a non-profit professional organization established to empower retirement plan professionals who are dedicated to building a better retirement for Americans. The American Retirement Association is comprised of five premier retirement industry associations; the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA), the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA), and the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).

Media Contact: Nevin E. Adams, JD, Chief Content Officer, American Retirement Association, 703.516.9300 Ext. 114, [email protected]