"Plan sponsors should review and inventory the changes implemented for their retirement plans over the last six years as a result of the CARES Act, SECURE Act, and SECURE 2.0 Act. Each change will need to be accurately reflected in an applicable plan amendment.... Plan sponsors with pre-approved plans should work with their pre-approved plan provider to ensure that their amendments are drafted with sufficient time to enable review and adoption before December 31, 2026." MORE >>
"Common amendment areas include: [1] Coronavirus-related distributions and loan provisions; [2] Waiver or treatment of 2020 RMDs; [3] Increased RMD age (now up to 73, with future increases); [4] Long-term part-time employee eligibility rules; [5] Automatic enrollment and escalation features; [6] Updated required distribution timing rules; [7] Cash-out thresholds for small balances; [8] Roth catch-up provisions." MORE >>
"Notice 2026-34 identifies recent changes in plan qualification requirements that the IRS will consider when reviewing defined benefit-qualified (DB-qualified) pre-approved plans for the fourth remedial amendment cycle (Cycle 4).... DB-qualified pre-approved plan document providers seeking Cycle 4 IRS opinion letters for the updated pre-approved plans they will ultimately offer for adoption by plan sponsors may submit applications from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027." MORE >>
"Two critical deadlines are converging. Calendar year plans must adopt amendments reflecting the SECURE Act, CARES Act, and SECURE 2.0 by December 31, 2026... and must complete pre-approved plan restatements within the current IRS cycle (anticipated to be July 2026-2028). Missing either deadline can jeopardize the tax-qualified status of the plan -- triggering immediate taxation of all plan assets to participants." MORE >>
"The 2026 Cumulative List covers a host of changes for recently issued regulations and significant pieces of legislation, including the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE 1.0) Act of 2019, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019, and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020. Many of the legislation-related changes were explicitly excluded from Cycle 3 review." MORE >>
"The provisions included on the 2026 Cumulative List mostly relate to changes in law as a result of the SECURE Act, the CARES Act, and the SECURE 2.0 Act (along with some other changes along the way)." MORE >>
11 pages. "This notice sets forth the 2026 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements for Defined Benefit Qualified Pre-approved Plans. The 2026 Cumulative List will assist providers applying to the [IRS] for opinion letters for the fourth remedial amendment cycle for defined benefit qualified pre-approved plans (Cycle 4) under the IRS's pre-approved plan program. Cycle 4 began on April 1, 2025. The Cycle 4 submission period begins on August 1, 2026, and ends on July 31, 2027. The 2026 Cumulative List identifies recent changes in the qualification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code that were not taken into account during the first three remedial amendment cycles for defined benefit qualified pre-approved plans and that will be taken into account by the IRS with respect to the form of a plan submitted to the IRS for Cycle 4."MORE >>
"It's now been more than 6 years since the SECURE Act became law and almost 2 years since the IRS finalized its RMD regulations. Yet there's still plenty of confusion about how these rules work. ... [T]hese are the rules for retirement accounts inherited after 2019. Pre-SECURE Act rules applied for accounts inherited before 2020, and those old rules were grandfathered and continue to apply for those accounts. Also note that there are separate rules for successor beneficiaries (beneficiaries of beneficiaries)." MORE >>
"Currently, about half of plan sponsors have adopted at least one of the distribution provisions while 37 percent have adopted the natural disaster provision and 30 percent have adopted the domestic violence provision. We also asked why they are or are not adding these provisions and the answers range from 401(k) administration is complicated enough as it is, concerns about abuse, to participants requesting them. One employer added four but limited use to three per year, which is an interesting way to balance the flexibility in offering options with limiting abuse and leakage." MORE >>
"By December 31, 2026, plan sponsors of certain qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) and defined benefit plans, must amend the plans to incorporate required and discretionary changes under the [CARES] Act, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022." MORE >>
"This announcement provides that the [Treasury Department and the IRS] anticipate that certain portions of final regulations relating to required minimum distributions (RMDs) under section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code will apply for the distribution calendar year that begins no earlier than 6 months after the date that final regulations are issued in the Federal Register." MORE >>
"[S]ponsors of qualified and Section 403(b) plans have until December 31, 2027, to amend their plans for the RMD changes included in the 2025 RAL. The SECURE 2.0 RMD changes that were not included in the 2024 final regulations are expected to be included in a later RAL ... The 2025 RAL also states that the final regulations issued in 2025 regarding SECURE 2.0's Roth catch-up requirement for high earners are expected to be included in the 2027 RAL. If that proves to be the case, plan sponsors will have until December 31, 2029, to amend their plans to include the Roth catch-up provisions." MORE >>
"The extended deadline applies to IRAs under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 408(a), (b) and (h) as well as Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) arrangements and Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRAs. It covers all amendments -- required or discretionary -- related to these laws and any associated regulations." MORE >>
"[T]his year's list includes changes to the rules for required minimum distributions (RMDs) made by the [SECURE Act] of 2019 (SECURE 1.0) and certain RMD changes made by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. These provisions now have a plan amendment deadline that is one year later than the deadline that applies to most other SECURE 1.0 and 2.0 provisions." MORE >>
"With year-end approaching, employers should consider reviewing their key administrative, operational and compliance responsibilities for their qualified retirement plans. Year-end is an ideal opportunity for employers to confirm that they have adopted required amendments, that their operational processes are up to date, particularly in light of the ongoing implementation of the [SECURE Act] and the SECURE 2.0 Act ... and that contributions, testing and participant communications are on track. An employer's thoughtful review now can help prevent future compliance issues and ensure that qualified retirement plans continue to operate in the best interests of participants heading into 2026." MORE >>
"[N]on-governmental 457(b) deferred compensation plans must be amended ... to account for: [1] Extensions relating to commencement of required minimum distributions (RMDs) ... [2] Implementation of the 10-year RMD Rule ... the December 31, 2025 deadline is unique to non-governmental 457(b) plans. " MORE >>
"[P]lan sponsors that made discretionary changes to their plans during the 2025 plan year should ensure that such amendments are documented in a formal plan amendment before the end of the year.... The general deadline to amend a qualified plan (that is neither a government plan nor a collectively bargained plan) to reflect changes adopted under several recent federal laws (including the SECURE Act, the CARES Act, and SECURE. 2.0) is December 31, 2026." MORE >>
"The deadline by which a plan sponsor must amend its retirement plans depends on the plan type. Here’s a list of the current amendment deadlines by plan type." MORE >>
"[S]ponsors of tax-exempt 457(b) plans now face a short timeframe to implement amendments, such as the increase in the required minimum distribution age, which was first raised to 72 under the SECURE Act, then to 73 under SECURE 2.0 ... It is unlikely that the IRS will grant tax-exempt 457(b) plans a last-minute extension, especially given the government shutdown[.]" MORE >>
"SECURE limited the ability of some inherited IRA beneficiaries to stretch their distributions from the IRA. Non-eligible designated beneficiaries and non-designated beneficiaries are restricted in their ability to stretch distributions beyond 10 years. Eligible designated beneficiaries, such as spouses, are still able to do the inherited stretch." MORE >>
"[A] 401(k) or 403(b) plan will satisfy the mandatory automatic enrollment requirement only if the plan provides an EACA that covers all employees in the plan who are eligible to elect to have contributions made on their behalf. This includes long-term, part-time employees.... The regulatory amendments are designed to align with the mandatory automatic enrollment requirements described in Section 101 of SECURE 2.0. They also support SECURE 2.0 provisions that allow employers to forego sending annual EACA notices to unenrolled participants and to combine two or more mandatory notices." MORE >>
"As 2024 comes to a close, it is a good time to review how some of the recent changes under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and the original SECURE Act impact qualified retirement plans.... [S]ome of the noteworthy changes that recently took effect or will soon become effective: [1] Participation of long-term part-time employees in 401 (k) plans ... [2] Required minimum distributions for Roth 401 (k) contributions ... [3] Surviving spouse can be treated as employee for RMD purposes ... [4] Increased cashout limit ... [5] Higher catch-up contribution limit ... [6] Catch-up contributions required to be Roth contributions ... [7] Notices to unenrolled participants." MORE >>
"In general, the final regulations provide that the beneficiary, including eligible designated beneficiaries, must continue to take annual RMDs after the death of the taxpayer. The IRA must be fully distributed by the tenth anniversary of the taxpayer's death. The final regulations apply to calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025." MORE >>
"The Final RMD Regulations are effective for distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. For distribution calendar years before January 1, 2025, a good faith, reasonable interpretation of statutory provisions standard applies. The key provisions from the Final RMD Regulations that clarify or expand on the 2022 Proposed Regulations and the Proposed RMD Regulations are discussed [in this article]." MORE >>
"The IRS stated that it anticipates issuing proposed regulations with respect to Section 403(b) plans that are expected to be similar to the final regulations regarding 401(k) plan LTPTEs. The Notice also confirms that the forthcoming final regulations regarding LTPTEs participating in Section 401(k) plans will apply only to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026." MORE >>
