The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which was included in an appropriations bill on Monday, passed the house Tuesday and is expected to reach the president’s desk for approval by the end of the week.
The proposed legislation could have a broad impact on both investors and advisors. It would see changes to the age at which investors need to take required minimum distributions (RMDs), modify requirements for multiple-employer plans (MEPs), and allow penalty-free distributions from certain plans for births and adoptions, among other changes.
The SECURE Act, introduced by Representative Richard Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, in March, passed the house Tuesday in a 297-120 vote (It was initially approved back in May, but it got hung up in the Senate). It has bipartisan support, and President Donald Trump issued an executive order in 2018 to assess expanding workers’ access to MEPs and examine changes to RMDs.
“The SECURE Act is an important piece of legislation that helps small businesses provide robust benefits for their employees and gives Americans incentives to take responsibility for their retirement financial security,” said Kevin Mayeux, CEO of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). “It makes a nice holiday gift from Congress to American employers and workers.”