SECURE Act

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. This law included bipartisan legislation, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, widely considered to be the most significant retirement plan legislation in the U.S. since 2006's Pension Protection Act. The SECURE Act provisions impact many areas of retirement plan administration including: disclosures, selecting an annuity provider, increased age for required minimum distributions (RMDs), a type of open multiple employer plan (MEP) called a “pooled employer plan” (PEP) and more. (Note: MEPs are different from Taft-Hartley collectively-bargained multiemployer plans.)

The International Foundation will keep you up to date on the SECURE Act and its forthcoming guidance.

Government Resources

• Temporary Implementing FAQs: Pension Benefit Statements Lifetime Income [DOL]
  
• Guidance on Sections 102 and 103 of the SECURE Act With Respect to Safe Harbor Plans [IRS Notice 2020-86]
  
• Final Rule on Pooled Plan Provider Registration (News Release) [DOL]
  
• Draft Form PR and Instructions [DOL]
  
• Proposed Rule on Pooled Plan Provider Registration (Fact Sheet) [DOL]
  
• Interim Final Rule on Pension Benefit Statements – Lifetime Income Illustrations (Fact Sheet) [DOL]
  
• Miscellaneous Changes Under the SECURE Act of 2019 and the Bipartisal American Miners Act of 2019 [IRS Notice 2020-68]
  
• Safe Harbor Explanations – Eligible Rollover Distributions [IRS Notice 2020-62]
  
• Request for Information on Prohibited Transactions Involving PEPs and Other MEPs [DOL]
  
• Election of Alternative Minimum Funding Standards for Community Newspaper Plans [IRS Notice 2020-60]
  
• Guidance on Waiver of 2020 Required Minimum Distributions [IRS Notice 2020-51]
  

Overviews & Next Steps for Plan Sponsors

• House panel unanimously passes SECURE 2.0 [RPA]
  
• SECURE Act Guidance Shines a Helpful Light for Retirement Plans [International Foundation]
  
• The SECURE Act—What Employers Need to Know [International Foundation]
  
• What You Need to Communicate About the SECURE Act [Segal Benz]
  
• Impact of the SECURE Act on Retirement Security [American Academy of Actuaries]
  
• SECURE Act Adds New Compliance Requirements For Employers [Fisher Phillips]
  
• Provisions of the SECURE Act Affecting Tax Qualified Retirement Plans [Mintz]
  
• What Plan Sponsors May Need to Change For SECURE Act [Mercer]
  
• SECURE Act: Two Key Changes for Defined Benefit Plans [Proskauer]
  
• SECURE ACT – Defined Benefit Plans [Spencer Fane]
  

Analysis of Select Provisions

• IRS Guidance on SECURE Act Provides More Detail on Changes to Safe Harbor Plans [Groom]
  
• DOL Presses Forward With Lifetime Income Disclosure in Defined Contribution Plans [Groom]
  
• DOL Issues Proposed Regulations Establishing Registration Requirement for Pooled Plan Providers [Wagner Law Group]
  
• IRS Proposed Regulations Regarding Qualified Plan Loan Offsets [Morgan Lewis]
  
• Retirement Industry Experts See Tremendous Promise for PEPs [Plan Adviser]
  
• Pooled Employer Plans – FAQs [Mayer Brown]
• SEP, MEP, or PEP: Identifying the Key Differences in Retirement Plans [Transamerica & Ferenczy Law]
  
• Weaving Part-Time Employee Inclusion Into Retirement Plan Processes [PLANSPONSOR]
  
• Counting Hours for Part-Time Employee Eligibility to Take Effect Soon [Husch Blackwell]
  
• SECURE Act: A dive into individual annuities in retirement plans [Milliman]
  
• SECURE, CARES acts change rules on required minimum distributions [Mercer]
  
• Nondiscrimination Testing Relief for Frozen Plans [TRA]
  
• What Employers Should Know About Distributions Under the SECURE Act [Epstein Becker Green]
  
• Managing the 10-Year Rule for IRAs [Manning & Napier]
  
• IRS gives guidance on SECURE Act community newspaper DB relief [Mercer]