By Brian Croce
Source: Pensions & Investments
When the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 was signed into law 50 years ago this week, it provided much needed protections for American workers and established trust in the nation’s retirement system, but for the law to more effectively boost retirement security over the next 50 years, sources said lawmakers, regulators and the retirement industry need to continue pushing enhancements.
The law, signed on Labor Day, Sept. 2, 1974, by President Gerald R. Ford, established standards for private-sector pension plans, making it so retirement assets are managed in the best interest of the participant and that workers receive their earned benefits.
“ERISA is the most important law that most people have never heard of,” said Bradford P. Campbell, a partner at law firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath and former assistant secretary of labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration during President George W. Bush’s administration. “ERISA has resulted in a tremendous amount of capital in the hands of ordinary people.”
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