A simmering debate among financial professionals and policy wonks has intensified as the presidential race kicks into high gear: Should Joe Biden become president, will he reinvent the 401(k)?

A Biden campaign pledge to make employer-sponsored plans more equitable is driving the conversation. While Biden’s team hasn’t offered many details, some observers believe a Biden administration would favor changing retirement plan tax benefits to the benefit of lower-income workers.

Skeptics worry this would depress retirement savings overall and lead to higher taxes for upper middle-class Americans (although this would also break a separate Biden campaign pledge).

But the argument’s fervency belies its import. Even if a Biden administration redistributes the tax benefits of retirement savings away from higher earners to lower ones, your retirement savings are unlikely to change radically. And this pales in comparison to larger issues, such as getting more Americans to actually enroll in retirement savings plans in the first place.

“The language used makes it seem like a hot button issue,” said Alicia Munnell, director of retirement research at Boston College. “But it’s not going to upend the 401(k) system.”

Biden’s Pledge to “Equalize Benefits” Sparks Debate

Tucked away on the Biden campaign website is an extended list of proposals to improve the lives of older Americans. One bullet point states that if Biden were elected president, he would “equalize benefits across the income scale, so that low- and middle-income workers will also get a tax break when they put away money for retirement.”

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