Secure Act 2.0

Key Provisions

• Increase in RMD Age:  Increases the age from 72 to 73 in 2023 (and 75 in 2033) for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).
• Eliminates RMDs for Employer Sponsored Roth Accounts in 401(k)s and 403(b)s: RMDs are eliminated from Roth accounts in 401(k)s and 403(b)s for tax years after December 31, 2023
• Required Retirement Plan Enrollment: Most of the new 401(k)s and 403(b)s established after SECURE 2.0 Act becomes law will be required to enroll employees automatically and escalate contributions automatically after December 31, 2024
• Low-Income Savers Credit: Low-income retirement savers after December 31, 2026 could qualify for a 50% tax credit up to $2,000 that has to be deposited into an individual’s retirement plan or an IRA
• Increase in Catch-Up contribution limits:  Catch-up contribution limits will go up for those age 60 and 63 after December 31, 2024 to the greater of two: either $10,000 or 150% of the regular catch-up amount for those 50 and older.
• Early Withdrawal Penalties Eliminated for Hardships: Early withdrawal penalties will be eliminated for hardship distributions made by terminally ill employees and those living in declared disaster areas (up to $22,000)
• Decreased Penalty for Missed RMDs: 50% Penalty for missed distributions is reduced to 25% overall. If the distribution is taken late, but corrected taxes are filed in a timely matter, it is further reduced to 10%.
• Small Business Matching Credit: Business Owners with up to 50 employees can now get up to $1,000/employee in credits when you contribute a matching component to the employee’s retirement plan.
• Small Business Start-Up Tax Credit: Increase to the start-up tax credit from 50% to 100% of retirement plan administrative costs for employers with up to 50 employees and additional credits are available for employers with up to 100 employees.
• Employer Student Loan Matching: Starting in 2024, employers will be able to “match” employee student loan payments with matching payments to a retirement account, giving workers an extra incentive to save while paying off educational loans.
• Roth Contributions for SEP and SIMPLE IRAs: Small business employees using these plans will now have the ability to make some or all of their contributions to a Roth account.
• Roth Retirement Plan Matching: Prior to this law coming into effect your company match always went into the Pre-Tax component of your plan. Now you have the ability to have all of your contributions be attributable to Roth dollars.
• Employer Sponsored Emergency Fund: A new way to build an emergency fund that starts in 2024, where you will be allowed to save up to 3% of their salary, with a maximum of $2,500, into an emergency fund portion of your employer plan and can access that money without early withdrawal penalties.
• Penalty Free Early Withdrawals: Effective in 2024, employees would be able to withdraw up to $1,000 from their normal retirement account for certain emergencies without having to pay the typical 10% penalty.
• Additional Catchup for Individuals Aged 60-63: If you’re in this age range, you will now be able to contribute up to the annual plan maximum, plus the traditional catchup, and now up to an additional $11,250 for 2023 for 401k’s or $5,520 for SIMPLE IRA’s. The exception to this part of the legislation is that if you earn over $145,000 per year, those additional contributions must be made in the Roth Component of the plan.
• 529 to Roth IRA Rollover Rule: Starting in 2024, any excess or unused monies in a 529 Plan can now be rolled over into the Roth IRA of said 529 Plan Beneficiary. There are some rules to this. Firstly, the 529 account of the beneficiary must be in place for at least 15 years (now it doesn’t say it needs to be funded, just open) and secondly they are limited to a lifetime limit of $35,000.

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For a detailed overview of each Secure Act 2.0 provision and its effective date, click here.