Senior legal analyst highlights the
U.S. Senate’s group of new bills that may impact the way Americans save and
plan for retirement
New York, NY — June 2, 2022
What: Retirement and 401(k) Spotlight
Why: The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, commonly referred to as SECURE 2.0, is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that would make multiple changes affecting employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs. Among the Act’s provisions are those that would: expand automatic enrollment in 401(k) and 403(b) plans; increase the age at which participants are required to begin receiving mandatory distributions, from age 72 to age 75; increase the catch-up contribution limits for retirement plans and SIMPLE plans for individuals who have attained ages 62, 63, and 64; reduce the period of service a long-time, part-time worker must perform in order to be eligible to participate in an employer’s 401(k) plan; promote and enhance the Saver’s Credit; require all catch-up contributions to qualified retirement plans to be subject to Roth tax treatment; and allow 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) plans to provide participants with the option of receiving employer matching contributions on a Roth basis.
In addition, the Act would: allow student loan payments to be treated as elective deferrals eligible for matching contributions; authorize penalty-free withdrawals from eligible retirement plans to victims of domestic abuse; provide a nonrefundable tax credit of up to $500 for small employers that allow for immediate plan eligibility for military spouses; increase the tax credit available to small employers for starting a pension plan, from 50% to 100% of qualified start-up costs; and allow employers to provide de minimis financial incentives (e.g., gift cards) to employees to participate in a retirement plan.
Who: Glenn Sulzer, J.D., Senior Legal Analyst, Pensions & Retirement
Glenn Sulzer is a Senior Analyst at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. He has been analyzing pension and employee benefits law for over 30 years. While primarily focusing on the Pension Plan Guide, Sulzer has been a major contributor to the Master Pension Guide, Fringe Benefits Tax Guide, Employee Benefits Management, COBRA Guide, Individual Retirement Plan Guide, Compliance Guide for Plan Administrators, Spencer Retirement Reports, and Law and Explanation Analyses of tax legislation going back to the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Author of Working with 401(k) plans and the Practical Guide to 401(k) Plans, Sulzer has also co-authored: Social Security Benefits Including Medicare, Social Security Explained, Saving for the Future (Roth and Traditional IRAs), Retirement Plans for Individual and Small Businesses, and On Your Retirement. A Wolters Kluwer spokesperson in the area of employee benefits, Sulzer has written numerous Portfolios and White Papers covering a wide variety of benefits topics, as well as Strategic Perspectives on health law issues. Sulzer is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law and earned an undergraduate degree in political science from DePaul.
“SECURE 2.0 and other concurrent legislative proposals are a continuation of the Congressional intention, expressed in the 2019 SECURE Act 2019, to increase the accessibility of employees to employer-provided retirement benefits and ease plan administration. The proposals have wide bipartisan support and could very well be passed into law during the current legislative session. Given the scope of the proposed amendments, and the attendant administrative costs, plan sponsors and administrators should consider planning for the changes now.” – Glenn Sulzer, J.D., Wolters Kluwer Senior Legal Analyst
Contact: To arrange an interview with Glenn Sulzer or other legal experts from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. on this or any other legal related topics, please contact Linda Gharib: [email protected]
