Skip to main content

Two New Pieces of Legislation Impacting Retirees This Year and Beyond

Blog - Two New Pieces of Legislation Impacting Retirees This Year and Beyond

Greetings from our Financial Services Department team here at Montgomery Insurance and Investments. We hope you are staying safe and in good health coping with the life-changing events due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus. As we begin to restore normalcy, it is important for us to share important new pieces of legislation impacting retirees.

The CARES ACT: Tucked into the gigantic “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (“CARES”) Act were two key changes you should know about regarding required minimum distributions (RMDs). Both were designed to give people more control over their money and to help manage selling investments during these times of market volatility.1

  • One provision allows retirees to forego taking RMDs from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) or 401(k)-style plans this year.
  • The other provision allows people who have inherited 401(k)s, IRAs or Roth IRAs to suspend distributions in 2020 (while RMDs don’t apply to people with Roth IRAs, they do apply to investors who inherit Roth accounts).
  • Important Note: If you have already taken a distribution from an IRA or 401(k)-style plan this year, you may be able to roll the funds back into the plan. Keep in mind, the CARES Act is a 335-page bill, and some of the provisions are open to interpretation. Please contact your tax or legal professional to understand how it might impact your situation.

The SECURE ACT: The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act is now law. While the new rules don’t appear to amount to a massive upheaval, the SECURE Act will require a change in strategy for many Americans. For others, it may reveal new opportunities.

  • Limits on Stretch IRAs. The legislation “modifies” the required minimum distribution rules in regard to defined contribution plans and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) balances upon the death of the account owner. Under the new rules, distributions to non-spouse beneficiaries are generally required to be distributed by the end of the 10th calendar year following the year of the account owner’s death.3
  • It’s important to highlight that the new rule does not require the non-spouse beneficiary to take withdrawals during the 10-year period. But all the money must be withdrawn by the end of the 10th calendar year following the inheritance. A surviving spouse of the IRA owner, disabled or chronically ill individuals, individuals who are not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner, and child of the IRA owner who has not reached the age of majority may have other minimum distribution requirements.
  • Let’s say that a person has a hypothetical $1 million IRA. Under the new law, your non-spouse beneficiary may want to consider taking at least $100,000 a year for 10 years regardless of their age. For example, say you are leaving your IRA to a 50-year-old child. They must take all the money from the IRA by the time they reach age 61. Prior to the rule change, a 50-year-old child could “stretch” the money over their expected lifetime, or roughly 30 more years.
  • IRA Contributions and Distributions. Another major change is the removal of the age limit for traditional IRA contributions. Before the SECURE Act, you were required to stop making contributions at age 70½. Now, you can continue to make contributions as long as you meet the earned-income requirement.4
  • Also, as part of the Act, you are mandated to begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from a traditional IRA at age 72, an increase from the prior 70½. Allowing money to remain in a tax-deferred account for an additional 18 months (before needing to take an RMD) may alter some previous projections of your retirement income.4 The SECURE Act’s rule change for RMDs only affects Americans turning 70½ in 2020. For these taxpayers, RMDs will become mandatory at age 72. If you meet this criterion, your first RMD won’t be necessary until April 1 of the year after you reach 72.2

Please review this information carefully and contact us ASAP should you have any questions or would like to make changes regarding income withdrawals. Also, be on the lookout for upcoming communications regarding market updates, portfolio reallocation changes and options for conducting our and process.

Citations.

  1. The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2020.
  2. Forbes.com, March 30, 2020.
  3. waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/SECURE%20Act%20section%20by%20section.pdf [12/25/19]
  4. marketwatch.com/story/with-president-trumps-signature-the-secure-act-is-passed-here-are-the-most-important-things-to-know-2019-12-21 [12/25/19]
Close Menu