SECURE Act 2.0 Archives - Spotlight on Benefits

DOL Proposes New Rules for Electronic and Paper Benefit Statements

On February 25, 2026, the Department of Labor (DOL) released proposed regulations that would amend the rules for electronic delivery of employee benefit plan disclosures, as required by SECURE 2.0. These proposals aim to harmonize the DOL’s electronic disclosure safe harbors with new statutory mandates regarding paper statements for retirement plans.

A Brief History of Electronic Disclosures

Since 2002, the DOL has provided two safe harbor frameworks for the electronic delivery of ERISA-required disclosures. The 2002 safe harbor permitted electronic delivery for employees with regular work-related computer access (“wired-at-work”) or those who affirmatively consented, but it required a default paper disclosure for others. The 2020 safe harbor expanded electronic delivery for retirement plans by allowing default electronic disclosure if a participant provided a valid electronic address, with an initial paper notice and the right to opt out at no cost. These rules enabled most plans to use electronic delivery; the DOL estimates that over 96% of retirement plan participants receive some ERISA disclosures electronically.

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Roth Catch-Up Rules for Rehires: What Employers Need to Know Under the Final Regulations

SECURE 2.0 and the final IRS regulations on Roth catch-up contributions introduce a significant administrative consideration for employers and plan administrators: how does the Roth-only catch-up rule apply to rehired employees?

Background

Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires catch-up contributions to be made as after-tax Roth contributions if the contributing employee received wages in the prior calendar year that exceed $150,000 (and as adjusted for inflation). Wages are defined as FICA wages (as reported in Box 3 of Form W-2) paid by the employee’s common law employer in the prior year (or paid by a common paymaster or other company-controlled group member if the company has elected permissive aggregation of wages).

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The Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirement and a Statutory Merger

As the Roth catch-up contributions become effective this month, issues not addressed in the final regulations are coming to light.

Question: Our company completed a statutory merger — how does that impact the Roth catch-up contributions requirement?

Answer: Based on past IRS guidance, it is more than likely that an employee of either company in a statutory merger that was subject to the Roth catch-up contribution requirements of SECURE 2.0 Act prior to the statutory merger will continue to be subject to the Roth catch-up contribution requirements after the merger. Similarly, if the statutory merger occurs midyear, the employee’s compensation for the year of the merger will include compensation paid by either entity.

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IRS Issues Final Roth Catch-up Rules and What You Need to Know

On September 16, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published final rules on the Roth catch-up contribution requirements of SECURE 2.0 Act (Final Rules). Many of the requirements from the proposed rules are retained, although there have been some changes to try and ease plan administrative issues.

Background on Roth Catch-Up Contribution Changes

Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act requires catch-up contributions to be made as after-tax Roth contributions if the contributing employee received wages in the prior calendar year that exceed $145,000 (and as adjusted for inflation). The definition of wages is defined as FICA wages. All eligible participants must have the opportunity to elect Roth catch-up contributions (and Roth cannot be limited to just those employees earning above the $145,000 wage limit as adjusted).

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Stop the Presses – Annual Funding Notice Guidance Issued

On April 3, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance on the Annual Funding Notice changes made by the SECURE Act 2.0 and provided model notices. Pension plan administrators should review and revise their annual funding notices in light of the new guidance.

Background

Section 343 of SECURE Act 2.0, passed December 29, 2022, implemented changes to the annual funding notice provided to defined benefit pension plan participants. The changes became effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. For calendar year pension plans, the 2024 Annual Funding Notice (due no later than April 30, 2025) would be the first notice implementing the new rules. The DOL had not issued guidance or provided a model notice until the afternoon of April 3, 2025.

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DOL Lost & Found Database for Retirement Savings Goes Live

If you have ever found $10 in the pocket of a coat that you have not worn for some time, you are familiar with the delight of finding lost money that belongs to you. The Department of Labor’s new Retirement Savings Lost & Found Database (Database) seeks to recreate that feeling in the employee benefits realm by reuniting missing participants and beneficiaries with benefits they may have accrued under job-based retirement plans.

The importance of locating missing participants

Taking steps to find participants and beneficiaries who may be owed a benefit is important to companies that sponsor retirement plans for several reasons.

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Correcting Automatic Enrollment Errors

The SECURE 2.0 Act made it easier for retirement plan sponsors to correct automatic enrollment errors. As a policy matter, Congress strongly supports automatic enrollment provisions in retirement plans, and making it easier to correct errors should (hopefully) encourage retirement plan sponsors to add such features to their plans. This post focuses on the automatic enrollment correction provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act. (For an overview of the SECURE 2.0 Act for defined contribution plan sponsors, click here.)

Correcting Automatic Enrollment Errors

Section 350 of the SECURE 2.0 Act codified a safe harbor correction for automatic enrollment errors into the Internal Revenue Code. Prior to the SECURE 2.0 Act, automatic enrollment errors were eligible for correction under EPCRS (Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System) but were often subject to a sunset provision by the IRS (although that sunset provision had been extended previously).

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Trends in Optional Features Available Under Secure Act 2.0

During our October 30, 2024 webinar, “It’s 2024 and … It’s Decision Time in the Retirement Plan World!” we polled our audience on their interest in adding optional features available under Secure Act 2.0 (discussed in our prior blog post). The results are in!

Based on the responses to our polls:

There is very little interest in adding Pension-Linked Emergency Savings Accounts with 60 percent of respondents selecting “Strong No” and an additional 13 percent responding “Lean No,” for a total negative response rate of 73 percent.
Similarly, a strong response against adding Emergency Personal Expense Distribution with a collective 65 percent of respondents selecting “Strong No” or “Lean No.”
Student Loan Matching Contributions were not given a passing grade with a collective 56 percent of respondents selecting “Strong No” or “Lean No.”
In contract, there was more interest in adding Qualified Birth or Adoption Distribution (a collective 40 percent “Strong Yes” or “Lean Yes”) and Domestic Abuse Victim Distribution (a collective 39 percent “Strong Yes” or “Lean Yes”).
The Disaster Recovery Distribution was in the middle, with 43 percent responding “Maybe,” 29 percent not interested in adding these to their plan and 15 percent planning to add this option to their plan.

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Final Regulations Issued on Required Minimum Distributions Under SECURE Act

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from certain retirement plans, including tax-qualified plans, Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 403(b) plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Code section 457(b) eligible deferred compensation plans. The regulations implement changes put into law by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0).

The final regulations apply for distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. However, as some of the RMD changes addressed in the final regulations already have taken effect in accordance with the effective dates set forth in the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0, plan sponsors should review current plan operations for compliance.

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The Retirement Income Challenge in 401(k) Plans: Overcoming Legal Obstacles

Plan sponsors have been concerned about their fiduciary responsibilities for the selection of insurance companies to provide guaranteed income in their defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans. The SECURE Act of 2019 created an easy-to-satisfy fiduciary safe harbor to protect plan sponsors and to facilitate insured retirement income in those plans.