Broad retirement legislation — the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act — will become law as part of a year-end government spending package set for enactment within days. The legislation is substantially similar — if not identical — to the SECURE Act as passed by the House in May. A future GRIST article will provide full details of provisions included in the package.

Highlights of the retirement reforms

Key provisions provide long-awaited nondiscrimination testing relief for closed defined benefit plans, promote “open” defined contribution (DC) multiple-employer plans, relax auto-enrollment rules and encourage lifetime-income options in DC plans. Other reforms aim to help individuals save more for retirement. For example, the starting age for required distributions will increase from 70-1/2 to 72, and individuals will be able to contribute to an IRA after age 70-1/2.

Enactment of the SECURE Act caps off several years of advocacy efforts by a broad range of stakeholders — including Mercer, which helped educate lawmakers about the importance of the reforms and the value of the employer-based retirement system. After winning overwhelming House approval in May, the legislation had stalled in the Senate for reasons unrelated to measure’s core reforms.

The House and Senate are expected to clear the legislation for President Donald Trump’s signature before government funding expires at midnight Friday.

Related resources

Non-Mercer resources

• Rules Committee Print 116–44 Amending HR 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 —see p. 1532 for SECURE Act (House Rules Committee, Dec. 16, 2019)
• Estimated Budget Effects of HR 1994, the SECURE Act (Joint Committee on Taxation, May 22, 2019)
• House Report 116-79, Amending the SECURE Act (House, May 20, 2019)
• Present Law and Background Relating to Challenges in the Retirement System (Joint Committee on Taxation, May 10, 2019)

Mercer Law & Policy resources

• SECURE Act Stalls Amid Senate 'Holds' (June 24, 2019)
• House Passes SECURE Act To Bolster Retirement Plans (May 24, 2019)
• Mercer Applauds Congressional Action on Retirement Reforms (April 4, 2019)
• Bipartisan Retirement Reforms Pass Key House Panel (April 3, 2019)