The SECURE Act Explained

SECURE Act Impact on Retirement Plans 

The federal appropriations bill enacted into law by Congress and the President in the final weeks of 2019 included changes to the federal tax code that will impact qualified retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans or IRAs (sometimes collectively referred to as "retirement assets" in this bulletin). The new law, often referred to as the "SECURE Act," may affect contributions and distributions made during your lifetime and may also affect the way in which those retirement assets are distributed to your beneficiaries after your death. Significantly, the SECURE Act may impact the timing and amount of tax paid by those beneficiaries on distributions of the retirement assets, as well as your ability to protect the retirement assets from the beneficiaries' creditors, and it may ultimately affect the value of those retirement assets in the hands of the beneficiaries.

This bulletin summarizes some of the key aspects of the SECURE Act that may impact you or your estate plan. We hope you find it helpful in understanding the major changes enacted by this legislation, and how they might affect you. ...Continue Reading