(Editor's note: Larry Zimpleman, president and CEO of Principal Financial Group, recently joined the chorus of industry voices who've tried to reiterate the long-term benefits of maintaining existing tax deferral incentives to support America's retirement plans. The following is a letter he penned to POLITICO following a recent article on the subject.)

Just about every tax break is being evaluated in the rush to avert the impending fiscal cliff. Congressional leaders are carefully weighing the pros and cons of any changes, as they should. But POLITICO's examination of retirement plan tax advantages, "Retirement Savings Tax Breaks Face Scrutiny," exaggerates, and at one point misrepresents, the costs while ignoring a key differentiating benefit: 401(k) tax incentives pay back the government and our society.

While the article correctly describes the tax advantages for saving in a 401(k) — or other defined-contribution plans and IRAs — as tax deferrals, meaning the revenue eventually comes back to the government when the worker withdraws money, it also incorrectly refers to them as "tax-free" savings. Paying taxes later is not tax-free. That inaccurate label serves to perpetuate the myth that these tax advantages represent only a cost to the government.