On October 27, the House Ways & Means Committee introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020, a follow up to the December 2019 Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. The new bill, now colloquially known as the SECURE Act 2.0, is a mix of headline catching changes, alterations to the SECURE Act, and minor technical amendments. Some of the more exciting provisions include:
- Requiring all new 401(k), 403(b), and SIMPLE plans to include automatic enrollment and automatic escalation
- New higher catch-up contributions available for those age 60 and up
- Allowing 403(b) plans to participate in Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) under the same rules as 401(k) plans in the SECURE Act
- Allow plan sponsors to make retirement plan matching contributions on “qualified student loan payments”
- Creating a national, online, “lost and found” for retirement accounts
If nothing else, this proposed bill shows that there is still a desire to find solutions to the coverage gap at a national level.
At this point, it is unclear what, if any, appetite exists to get this bill passed. The SECURE Act was passed rather suddenly in 2019 as part of an end of year spending bill. There will have to be another spending bill during the lame-duck session after the election but given the current political climate, it is unknown whether anyone could muster enough bipartisan support to get an Act of this size through.
In the meantime, the retirement plan industry is still waiting for further guidance on a wide range of the SECURE Act provisions as well as building out capabilities needed for the SECURE Act, CARES Act, Reg BI, a potential new fiduciary rule, and the new e-disclosure safe harbor. That is enough to keep recordkeepers and plan sponsors alike busy for the next several months.
If you’re interested in all of the regulatory changes that have been passed this year, as well as a variety of other important updates, you can download a copy of our 2020 regulatory update here. You can also watch the recording of our roundtable discussion covering 2020 regulatory topics.
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