SECURE 2.0 Act

Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0 Act of 2022

Acronyms (colloquial)	SECURE 2.0 Act
Nicknames	SECURE 2.0 Act
Codification
Acts affected	Internal Revenue Code of 1986; Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
Agencies affected	Internal Revenue Service; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives Signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 29, 2022

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, was signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 29, 2022 as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. It builds on the changes made by the SECURE Act of 2019. ^{[1] [2]} SECURE stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement. ^[3]

Legislative history

Richard Neal, the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the SECURE 2.0 Act as H.R.2954 on May 4, 2021. It passed the House Ways and Means Committee on May 5, 2021, and passed the full House on March 29, 2022. ^[4]

On December 20, 2022, “Division T - Secure 2.0 Act of 2022” was added to H.R. 2617 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023), incorporating H.R. 2954 into the omnibus bill. The omnibus bill, including Division T, passed the Senate On December 22nd, passed the House on December 23rd, and signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 29, 2022. ^{[5] [6]}

Provisions

The SECURE 2.0 Act was drafted to assist in saving and investing for retirement. To that end, it contains a number of provisions to incentivize retirement planning, diversify the options available to savers, and increase access to tax-advantaged savings programs. Several of these provisions do not take effect until later years. Some of the provisions are: ^{[7] [8]}

• Expands automatic enrollment for certain retirement plans ^[9]
• Creates a "saver's match", a federal tax credit which can be claimed by a taxpayer for contributing to an employer retirement plan
• Increases age at which required minimum distributions (RMDs) start ^[10]
  • If a plan particpant turns 73 in 2024 or later, RMDs start at age 73. For those who turn 73 before 2024, RMDs start at age 72
• Indexes catch-up contributions to inflation
• Allows additional catch-up for participants aged 60 to 63 ^[9]
• Allows employers to provide incentives (like payments or gift cards) to employees to join a plan
• Changes coverage requirements for part-time employees ^[9]
• Allows Tax-Free Rollovers of 529s to ROTH IRAs under certain circumstances
• Creates several exemptions for early withdrawals, including
  • Withdrawals for emergencies
  • Withdrawals by domestic abuse victims
  • Withdrawals by plan participant with terminal illness
  • Withdrawals relating to disaster
  • Corrective distributions for excess contribution
• Calls for establishment of a Retirement plan "lost and found"
• Allows ROTH contributions to SIMPLE and SEP IRAs
• Allows participant to designate employer matching contributions as ROTH
• Allows employers to make matching retirement contributions based on employee student loan payments ^[11]

References

1. "401(k) Savings Plans Get a Boost in Bipartisan Retirement Bill - WSJ". Archived from the original on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
2. Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11 (December 29, 2022). "Actions - H.R.2617 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023". www.congress.gov.
3. "Overview of SECURE 2.0 Act: Key Provisions for Retirement Plans". natlawreview.com. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
4. Rep. Neal, Richard E. [D-MA-1 (March 30, 2022). "Actions - H.R.2954 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021". www.congress.gov.
5. "S.Amdt.6552 to H.R.2617 - 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov.
6. Waddell, Melanie. "Secure 2.0 Act: A Timeline". ThinkAdvisor.
7. "Key tax and retirement provisions in the Secure 2.0 Act". Journal of Accountancy. January 4, 2023.
8. "Key tax and retirement provisions in the Secure 2.0 Act". The Tax Adviser. January 4, 2023.
9. Dore, Kate (November 24, 2024). "These key 401(k) plan changes are coming in 2025. Here's what savers need to know". NBC News . Retrieved December 6, 2024.
10. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-npl/2023ntf-28-retirement-plan-distributions-after-secure.pdf
11. "IRS issues important interim guidance on employer matching contributions made to retirement plans related to employee student loan payments | Internal Revenue Service". www.irs.gov. Retrieved 2025-08-12.

External links

• Pub. L.   117–328 (text) (PDF)