From: ESQUIVEL, RENE M (ATTSI) [mailto:RE3950@att.com] 

Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:12 PM 

To: EBSA, E-ORI - EBSA 

Subject: ATTN: Lifetime Income RFI

To whom it may concern, 

I am a well informed and have successfully managed my 401k since I started participating in one 

seriously back in 2002. I favor all options available to me in a 401K plan. To this extent, I would 

favor an option to roll-over part or all of my 401k into an annuity such as is allowed with defined 

benefit or hybrid pension plans as per the 2006 Pension Protection Act. 

Personally, I expect that at some point in my life I will look to retire with my wife and secure my 

monthly living requirements via annuities while maintaining securities in my 401k for special 

needs and my Roth IRA for a legacy to our children. My company defined benefit pension (cash 

based) will be used to secure health benefits, and an annuity with long-term care insurance 

covered. 

What would be nice would be a way to combine pre-tax accounts to allow for the greatest value in 

the purchasing of a special annuity. It would be nice to combine my defined benefit pension lumpsum distribution with my 401k and purchase an annuity with long-term care insurance. The 

remainder of the funds can be subject to required minimum distributions as normal. 

If the federal government would like to add a government based annuity I would strongly favor a 

lump-sum distribution option to social security. This lump-sum could be offered at any time (with 

distributions subject to standard age 59 1⁄2 rules). This lump-sum could be reflective of the 

realities of the underfunded nature of social security. As of 2010, over $150,000 of my hard 

earned dollars have been taken from my income and placed into social security. If the 

government offered me today a lump-sum distribution of $100,000 which I could roll-over into a 

private annuity with cash-value (for distributions for personal reasons) and long-term care option 

with no further FICA payroll deductions I would opt for it. Honestly, I would even accept a lower 

lump-sum distribution than that from social security as a means of helping to bring funding 

stability to the program as long as I own the lump-sum distribution and I am no longer subject to 

further FICA payroll deductions – the full contribution of FICA employee deductions & employer 

matches would be redirected to my Roth 401k. 

Let me be clear though. When I support annuities it is STRICTLY through the PRIVATE sector. I 

DO NOT want the federal government using this as a stealth way to raid pensions & 401ks 

supplanting them with special treasury IOUs same as has been done with the social security 

(government annuity) since 1984. I expect the federal government to strictly keep their hands off 

my assets which I have accumulated in the private sector. It is bad enough that the largest bulk of 

the treasure I have accumulated is in social security over which I have no control over and which 

is already in the red as of this year. The government wasted the assets of it’s citizens and now 

will not be able to meet it’s pension obligations. If it were a private pension plan it would be under 

the 60% threshold for a pension and be on the verge of being taken over by the PBGC. Do not 

extend this disaster to my hard earned private retirement options. 

Rene Esquivel