House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) have introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, also known as the SECURE Act 2.0, and Neal has scheduled a markup session in the committee for Wednesday.

“NAIFA strongly supports this bipartisan legislation to help Americans better prepare for retirement, and we would like to thank Chairman Neal and Ranking Member Brady for their efforts to move it forward,” said NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux. “NAIFA members work directly in communities across the United States with business owners and families to encourage retirement planning. The SECURE Act was a great start, and the current legislation will build on that law to ensure that even more Americans have the ability to retire comfortably and provide their families with financial security.”

NAIFA has long advocated for many of the provisions in SECURE 2.0, such as:

• Increasing the age at which retirement plan owners must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from 72 to 75.
• Reducing the tax penalties for retirement plan owners who fail to take RMDs.
• Providing for autoenrollment of employees in new 401(k), 403(b), and SIMPLE plans, while giving employees the ability to opt out.
• Increasing the small employer pension plan start-up cost tax credit to 100 percent of administrative costs for employers with 50 or fewer employees.
• Providing an additional tax credit for employer contributions on behalf of employees to employers of 100 employees or fewer.
• Increasing the amount of allowable catch-up contributions for IRA and SIMPLE plan owners over the age of 60.

NAIFA’s advocacy team will provide a more thorough breakdown of the SECURE 2.0 legislation after it goes through committee.

Promoting passage of SECURE 2.0 will be a priority at NAIFA’s Congressional Conference, May 25-26. The Congressional Conference is NAIFA’s signature advocacy event. It includes a virtual fly-in, during which insurance and financial professionals from every state will meet with their Senators and congressional staff to discuss their important role in providing financial security for consumers and the impact legislation like SECURE 2.0 has on their clients.