WASHINGTON Securities industry groups on Thursday called on the Bush administration to boost retirement savings by creating tax incentives for investors and by reforming laws that govern employee retirement accounts.
In a press conference here, Terry K. Glenn, president of Merrill Lynch Funds and chairman of the Investment Company Institute, urged the President and Congress to raise the limits on the amount an individual can contribute to a retirement fund each year. For example, the group would like to see the cap on 401(k) contributions increased 42.9%, to $15,000 each year.
He also called for revisions to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that would allow investment firms to provide advice to individuals covered by 401(k) or other retirement savings plans. Investment firms say they are unwilling to offer such advice under the current law, because they can be sued by investors whose portfolios go sour.
