secure act

Happy Holidays! Congress Gifts SECURE 2.0

This holiday season Congress has given us SECURE 2.0. With no time to spare to avoid a government shutdown, they passed the $1.7 billion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and sent it off the President for signature. Tucked inside the more than 4000 pages of legislation, you can find SECURE 2.0.

Congress Considers Spending Bill That Includes SECURE 2.0

As you may have read, Congress is considering passage of a $1.65 trillion spending bill that contains a number of retirement savings plan provisions. As of this morning (December 21), the bill has not been passed, and both houses of Congress only have until this Friday (December 23) to do so. If passed, President Biden is expected to sign the bill immediately.

Automatic Waiver of 50% Penalty for Missed Year-of-Death RMD

At this time of year, financial articles typically cover festive topics with creative holiday metaphors. “Stuff Your Stocking with These Year-End Retirement Tips” or, “Stay Off Santa’s Naughty List by Implementing These Great Planning Ideas.” Lighthearted and fun – albeit corny – such commentary is usually bright, cheerful and easy to read. As the year comes to a close, I’m sure I will include similar language in one of my upcoming articles.

4 Things We Are Talking About at the Slott Report at the End of 2022

The holidays are right around the corner, and 2022 is drawing to a close. The end of the year is always a busy time with retirement account deadlines and preparations for the arrival of a new year and the tax season. This year, it seems, has been even busier than usual for us. Here are four things we are talking about at the Slott Report during the final few months of 2022.

A Clear Explanation of the RBD

SECURE Act regulations shoved the required beginning date (RBD) to the front of the stage. No longer can the RBD hide from the bright lights. What was once somewhat of a minor date in people’s lives has blossomed into an important event with cascading impacts on generations of potential beneficiaries.

Joe & Lucy – Different Rules Within the 10-Year Period

Some of the proposed SECURE Act regulations, released in February, are convoluted and unnecessary. We have made our opinions known. Fortunately, many of the confounding new rules – several of which we have written about – will be limited in their impact. However, a new discovery could affect a larger percentage of IRA and 401(k) beneficiaries. The combination of a few basic principles may lead to inherited IRA confusion. Does order + order = chaos? Example: Joe, age 75, has a traditional IRA (“IRA X”). Joe dies and leaves the IRA to his daughter Lucy. Lucy does NOT qualify to stretch payments as an eligible designated beneficiary (EDB) over her lifetime, so she must apply the 10-year rule. The entire IRA must be emptied by the end of the tenth year after the year of death. Additionally, Joe died after his required beginning date (“RBD” – April 1 of the year after he turned 72), so Lucy must also take required minimum distributions (RMDs) in years 1 – 9 of the 10 years.

5 Takeaways from the New SECURE Act Regulations

The SECURE Act was signed into law in late December of 2019. This new law upended the rules for retirement accounts. With it came many questions, and IRS guidance was eagerly anticipated. Finally, on February 23, the IRS released new proposed regulations that incorporate all the changes brought about by the SECURE Act. Since then, we have been busy combing through 275 pages of complicated new rules. As the dust begins to settle, here are 5 of our takeaways from the new SECURE Act regulations.

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