Seyfarth Synopsis: The SECURE Act, passed just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, significantly altered the retirement plan landscape. For a reminder on how the SECURE Act changed the retirement landscape click here and here. In 2021, another bill, Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, was considered but never passed. See our blog post here. The bill was revised and reconsidered in 2022, renamed the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 ("SECURE 2.0"), recently passed the House on March 29, 2022, and has been referred to the Senate. SECURE 2.0 builds on the SECURE Act and, if enacted, will require another close review of current retirement plan provisions and administration.

Is SECURE 2.0, as passed by the House, better than the original SECURE Act? Below are some of its provisions so plan sponsors and administrators can decide for themselves.

  • Required Minimum Distributions. The original SECURE Act raised the RMD age from 70-1/2 to age 72 beginning in 2020. Under SECURE 2.0, the RMD age would increase to age 73 in 2023, age 74 in 2030, and age 75 in 2033. Also, excise taxes for certain RMD failures would be reduced.
  • Mandatory Cashout Limit. The mandatory cashout limit, when distributions can be made without a participant's consent, would increase to $7,000 from $5,000 in 2023.
  • Automatic Enrollment and Escalation in New 401(k) and 403(b) Plans. Newly established 401(k) and 403(b) plans would be required to automatically enroll eligible employees at 3% with automatic increases on and after January 1, 2024. Plans in existence prior to the enactment of SECURE 2.0, along with other limited exceptions, would be exempt from this rule.
  • Catch-Up Contributions. Beginning in 2024, participants at ages 62, 63, and 64, would be able to contribute up to $10,000 (indexed for cost-of-living) as catch-up contributions, an increase from the current limit of $6,500. Additionally, beginning in 2023, all catch-up contributions (other than those made to SEPs or SIMPLE IRAs) must be Roth contributions.
  • Employer Matching Contributions on Student Loan Repayments. Beginning in 2023, 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) plans would be permitted to match a participant's student loan payments similar to plan elective deferrals.
  • Long-Term/Part-Time Workers. The original SECURE Act amended the Code to provide that part-time employees who work at least 500 hours each year for three consecutive years must be eligible to make salary deferrals into a 401(k) plan. SECURE 2.0 would amend ERISA to include both 401(k) and 403(b) plans, and change the eligibility requirement to 500 hours in two years. The first group of part-time workers could become eligible for a plan in 2023, not 2024 as is the case under the original SECURE Act.
  • Roth Matching Contributions. For 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) plans, plan sponsors could permit employees to elect that matching contributions be treated as Roth contributions.
  • Hardship. For hardship withdrawals, plans would be permitted to rely on an employee's self-certification that the employee has incurred a hardship. Additionally, SECURE Act 2.0 would harmonize the rules for hardship distributions under 403(b) plans with the 401(k) plan rules (e.g., making account earnings under a 403(b) plan available for hardship distributions).
  • 403(b) Investment in Collective Investment Trusts. Investment in Collective Investment Trusts (CITs) is currently permitted in various plans, including 401(k) plans, and is often used as a lower cost investment option for participants. 403(b) plans have historically been prohibited from investing in CITs, but SECURE 2.0 would specifically allow it beginning in 2023.

Other interesting proposals in SECURE 2.0 include permitting employers to offer small financial incentives to encourage participation in 401(k) plans, and penalty-free withdrawals of plan account balances (of up to $10,000) to victims of domestic abuse. Also, while the proposal eliminates the requirement to provide certain annual notices to employees who have not enrolled in an individual account plan as long as they receive an annual reminder notice of plan eligibility, it also adds a requirement to provide paper statements to 401(k) plan participants at least once a year and at least once every three years to pension plan participants. Finally, the proposal notably does not include any provisions about the much talked about elimination of Roth conversions.

As noted, this bill has only been passed by the House. Although there was significant bipartisan support in the House, it is likely that the provisions will be modified as the bill makes its way through the Senate. To stay up to date, be on the lookout for additional Beneficially Yours blog posts and Seyfarth Legal Updates.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.