Women's Retirement Security Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3951
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2006-09-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Annuities
Armed Forces and National Security
College costs
Commerce
Computer software
Congress
Counseling
Defined benefit pension plans
Defined contribution plans
Department of Labor
Department of the Treasury
Disability insurance
Disabled
Divorce
Education
Education savings accounts
Employee health benefits
Employee rights
Executive compensation
Executive reorganization
Families
Federal preemption
Finance and Financial Sector
Financial planning
Flexible benefit plans
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publications
Governmental investigations
Grants-in-aid
Health
Higher education
Income tax
Individual retirement accounts
Investment advisers
Investments
Law
Legislation
Life insurance
Married people
Medical savings accounts
Military dependents
Military pensions
Old age, survivors and disability insurance
Part-time employment
Payroll deductions
Pension funds
Railroad retirement plans
Retirement income
Saving and investment
Science, Technology, Communications
Self-employed
Small business
Social Welfare
State laws
Survivors' benefits
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Tax penalties
Tax refunds
Tax-deferred compensation plans
Taxation
Transportation and Public Works
Trusts and trustees
Unemployment insurance
War casualties
Widowers
Widows
Women
Workers' compensation
Working poor

Summary:
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: 
Women's Retirement Security Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require certain small employers who do not provide retirement plans for their employees to allow eligible employees to participate in a payroll deposit individual retirement account arrangement (automatic IRA); (2) increase the tax credit for retirement savings contributions (saver's credit) for certain low-income taxpayers; (3) allow certain part-time employees to participate in qualified cash or deferred arrangements; (4) allow the transfer of up to $500 of unused health plan benefits to qualified retirement plans; (5) treat wage replacement income (e.g., disability pay or unemployment compensation) as earned income for purposes of IRA contribution limits; (6) allow a rollover of military death benefits to IRAs and other benefit plans; (7) allow a limited tax exclusion for certain lifetime annuity payments; (8) allow certain small employers a tax credit for contributions to employee pension plans; (9) allow self-employed individuals to deduct pension plan contributions from their self-employment income; and (10) allow employees a tax exclusion for qualified retirement planning services.
 
Allows divorced spouses and widows and widowers to remarry after attaining age 60 without losing retirement benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make grants to qualified low-income taxpayer clinics to provide retirement savings counseling to low-income taxpayers.
 
Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to prepare a financial reference handbook and a retirement readiness checklist for distribution to social security recipients.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Introduced in Senate