"SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022" was signed into law on December 29, 2022, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. This Pocket Guide provides a short summary of the retirement-related provisions in SECURE 2.0. Parts I through XIII of the Pocket Guide are organized chronologically by effective date, and the final part (Part XIV) summarizes provisions with varying effective dates after SECURE 2.0 enactment.
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Section |
Provision |
Short Summary |
Effective Date |
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Part I: Retroactive Effective Dates |
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Sec. 111. |
Application of Credit for Small Employer Pension Plan Startup Costs to Employers Which Join an Existing Plan |
Confirms employers joining a multiple employer plan (which includes pooled employer plans) are eligible for tax credit for all three years |
Retroactive to taxable years starting after December 31, 2019 |
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Sec. 331. |
Special Rules for Use of Retirement Funds in Connection with Qualified Federally Declared Disasters |
Provides automatic disaster relief rules for distributions and loans from retirement plan accounts in cases of qualified federally declared disasters |
Effective for disasters occurring on or after January 26, 2021 |
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Part II: SECURE 2.0 Enactment (December 29, 2022) |
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Sec. 101. |
Expanding Automatic Enrollment in Retirement Plans |
Requires that 401(k) and 403(b) plans (with limited exceptions) automatically enroll eligible participants at specific deferral rates with auto[1]escalation |
Effective for plans established after December 29, 2022; automatic enrollment provisions must apply for plan years starting after December 31, 2024 |
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Sec. 128. |
Enhancement of 403(b) Plans |
Permits 403(b) custodial accounts to participate in collective investment trust |
December 29, 2022* *Effective in theory; changes to securities laws needed to make this provision operative |
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Sec. 202. |
Qualifying Longevity Annuity Contracts |
Loosens restrictions on the premiums for qualifying longevity annuity contracts by eliminating the 25% retirement plan account balance limit and increasing dollar limit to $200,000 (indexed) |
Generally effective for contracts purchased on or after December 29, 2022 |
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Sec. 204. |
Eliminating a Penalty on Partial Annuitization |
Permits account owners to aggregate annuity payments received in respect of an interest in a retirement plan and any other remaining interest in the same retirement plan toward the year's required minimum distribution |
December 29, 2022 |
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Sec. 301. |
Recovery of Retirement Plan Overpayments |
Provides that plan fiduciaries are not required to recover inadvertent plan overpayments; if overpayments are recovered from participants, new timing rules and limitations apply |
December 29, 2022 |
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Sec. 305. |
Expansion of Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System |
Expands Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System to permit plan sponsors additional flexibility to self-correct retirement plan errors |
December 29, 2022; Treasury directed to make corresponding updates to EPCRS within two years |
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Sec. 335. |
Corrections of Mortality Tables |
Requires Treasury to amend minimum funding regulations for defined benefit pension plans by capping mortality improvement rates |
December 29, 2022 |
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Sec. 345. |
Annual Audits for Group of Plans |
Clarifies that plans filing under a group of plans need only submit an audit opinion if the plan has 100 participants or more |
December 29, 2022 |
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Sec. 606. |
Enhancing Retiree Health Benefits in Pension Plans |
Extends sunset date to the end of 2032 for rules permitting the use of overfunded pension plan assets to pay retiree health and life insurance benefits; transfers permitted if the transfer is no more than 1.75% of plan assets and the plan is at least 110% funded |
Transfers made on or after December 29, 2022 |
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