Summary of CEA President Margaret Iuculano’s Op-Ed Featured in the DC Journal
President Trump’s new executive order expanding access to retirement savings is an important win for working Americans, especially those without employer-sponsored plans. By making it easier for workers to open IRAs and offering federal matching contributions for low-income earners, the administration has taken a meaningful step toward helping more families build long-term financial security. But for millions of pastors, church employees, and nonprofit workers, a major retirement inequity still remains.
Those workers rely on 403(b) plans — the nonprofit and faith-based equivalent of a 401(k) — yet outdated federal rules prevent these accounts from accessing collective investment trusts, or CITs, which have become a lower-cost, more flexible, and increasingly popular option in the broader retirement market. That means clergy members, teachers, and charitable-sector employees are often stuck with older investment products carrying higher fees and fewer opportunities for growth, simply because of where they work.
Fixing that disparity should be the next step. Reforming 403(b) restrictions would put faith-based and nonprofit employees on fairer footing, strengthen retirement security for millions of Americans, and recognize that those called to serve in churches and charitable organizations should not be penalized by obsolete regulations. If the administration is serious about expanding retirement opportunity, it should urge the SEC to modernize the rules and let 403(b) savers access the same tools already available to much of the private sector.
“There is no reason employees of churches and other charitable organizations — who often already earn less than workers in other industries — should be fenced into under-performing investments just because they choose a career to which they are called.”
— Margaret Iuculano
Read the Full Op-Ed at DC Journal
Source: DC Journal (June 23, 2026). This CEA Newsroom post summarizes an external article. Read the full piece at the link above.
Margaret Iuculano (margaret@christianemployersalliance.org) is the president of the Christian Employers Alliance, promoting policies that support religious freedom and biblical principles in the workplace.
The Christian Employers Alliance advocates for Christian employers nationwide, defending against government mandates and promoting policies that support religious freedom and biblical principles in the workplace. Through initiatives like the Biblical Business Index (BBI), CEA provides the transparency and tools necessary for business leaders to lead with a record of conviction.
Established in 2016, CEA is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. CEA serves as the voice for America’s top Christian CEOs, spanning from Wall Street to Main Street.
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