Previously, plans limited the selection of annuities (if they were offered at all) to those from solid companies you might have heard of. That’s good, because a

Previously, plans limited the selection of annuities (if they were offered at all) to those from solid companies you might have heard of. That’s good, because as sibling comment points out, if the company goes under, so do your retirement funds. What the SECURE Act does is loosen the restrictions on who can offer the annuities. Before, it might been just Fidelity and Schwab. Now, in addition to those two, you can also choose Joe and Mary’s Bait, Ammo, and Annuities. Your employer won’t get to confiscate your 401K, but Joe and Mary have two kids to put through college. But you have to willingly, and foolishly, choose Joe and Mary’s product. Your employer can’t force you, but I suppose they could make it the default.