Major Retirement Access Overhaul Included in Omnibus Package

Congress has approved a major overhaul of workplace retirement savings as part of an end-of-year government spending bill, sending the measure to the president’s desk just hours ahead of a tight federal shutdown deadline.

The bill, dubbed the SECURE 2.0 Act, builds on the bipartisan SECURE Act (Pub.L. 116-94) that Congress passed almost exactly three years ago. The new SECURE Act bill expands access to pooled retirement accounts and boosts the minimum age by which workers and retirees must begin drawing down on their accounts.

SECURE 2.0 Act is expected to facilitate even broader access to workplace savings by allowing workers to co-mingle emergency funds with their 401(k)s and use student loan repayments as a means to take employer-sponsored matches.

Importantly, the bill requires employers to automatically enroll new workers into their retirement accounts. Automatic enrollment was broadly considered a top issue for retirement access advocates shaping the legislation.

President Joe Biden has pledged to sign the omnibus spending bill, complete with the SECURE 2.0 Act provisions.