Congress Just Made Changes to Your Retirement… Again, Ep #31

Every once in a while, Congress makes changes to your retirement. In this episode of the One for the Money podcast, I talk about recent, significant changes. Your financial plan must take advantage of these changes because there are always winners and losers when Congress makes changes. In the tips, tricks, and strategies portion, I share tips on reducing your taxes in retirement.

In this episode...The SECURE Act [01:05]Required Minimum Distributions(RMD) [03:31]Transferring funds from a 529 to a Roth IRA [06:24]Lowering your RDMs [10:01]
The SECURE Act of 2019

In December 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. And in December 2022, they passed the SECURE Act 2.0. Before looking into the follow-up version, it’s essential to understand the original. The 2019 law brought massive changes to retirement planning. The most notable was the death of the Stretch IRA. 

The stretch IRA was an estate planning strategy where your child would inherit your not-yet-taxed retirement account and distribute it over their entire lifetime, giving them significant tax savings. So a daughter who inherited a million-dollar IRA could spread out the distributions over a few decades, significantly reducing the taxes she would need to pay. As of 2019, a non-spouse must take those distributions in just ten years. This results in their paying significantly more in taxes because they would have to distribute much larger amounts over a shorter period. Beneficiaries will be paying way more taxes than before the 2019 SECURE Act.

What is a Required Minimum Distribution?

When you contribute money to a pre-tax retirement account, you have elected to pay taxes when you take the money out in your retirement, hoping your income and tax rate will be lower. Since you haven’t paid taxes on this money, Congress forces you to take money out each year starting at a certain age. In 2019, Congress raised the age from 70.5 to 72. One of the reasons is that people are working longer because they didn’t save up enough for retirement. 

In the new SECURE 2.0 Act, Congress pushed out the RMD required dates even further. Those born between 1951 and 1959 are required to start taking money out at age 73. People born in 1960 or later can wait until age 75. That’s a great thing because it allows their money to grow longer without being taxed. Some people might consider not taking their RMDs, but the IRS would penalize them for that. The penalty for a missed RMD used to be 50%. So if the requirement were $10,000, the IRS would charge $5,000. Now that amount is 25%, and if corrected promptly, the penalty is reduced to just 10%. 

SECURE Act 2.0

One of the best changes made by SECURE 2.0 is that it made it possible to transfer funds from a college savings account, also known as a 529, to a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. This process can start in 2024, but several conditions must be satisfied before a transfer can be valid. The Roth IRA receiving the funds must be in the name of the beneficiary of the 529 plan. The 529 plan must have been maintained for 15 years or longer, and any earnings and contributions to the 529 plan within the last five years are ineligible to be moved to a Roth IRA. 

The annual limit for these transfers is whatever the individual’s limit is for a Roth IRA that year. The maximum amount that can be moved from a 529 plan to a Roth IRA in an individual’s lifetime is $35,000. This new strategy could be used for higher net-worth families to prime the retirement pump for children, grandchildren, and other loved ones. A meaningful contribution could be made to a 529 plan when the child is born. Then, after the account has existed for over 15 years, the account’s funds could be moved to a Roth IRA for the child’s benefit. The transfer rules require that the child have...

Every once in a while, Congress makes changes to your retirement. In this episode of the One for the Money podcast, I talk about recent, significant changes. Your financial plan must take advantage of these changes because there are always winners and losers when Congress makes changes. In the tips, tricks, and strategies portion, I share tips on reducing your taxes in retirement.

In this episode...The SECURE Act [01:05]Required Minimum Distributions(RMD) [03:31]Transferring funds from a 529 to a Roth IRA [06:24]Lowering your RDMs [10:01]
The SECURE Act of 2019

In December 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. And in December 2022, they passed the SECURE Act 2.0. Before looking into the follow-up version, it’s essential to understand the original. The 2019 law brought massive changes to retirement planning. The most notable was the death of the Stretch IRA. 

The stretch IRA was an estate planning strategy where your child would inherit your not-yet-taxed retirement account and distribute it over their entire lifetime, giving them significant tax savings. So a daughter who inherited a million-dollar IRA could spread out the distributions over a few decades, significantly reducing the taxes she would need to pay. As of 2019, a non-spouse must take those distributions in just ten years. This results in their paying significantly more in taxes because they would have to distribute much larger amounts over a shorter period. Beneficiaries will be paying way more taxes than before the 2019 SECURE Act.

What is a Required Minimum Distribution?

When you contribute money to a pre-tax retirement account, you have elected to pay taxes when you take the money out in your retirement, hoping your income and tax rate will be lower. Since you haven’t paid taxes on this money, Congress forces you to take money out each year starting at a certain age. In 2019, Congress raised the age from 70.5 to 72. One of the reasons is that people are working longer because they didn’t save up enough for retirement. 

In the new SECURE 2.0 Act, Congress pushed out the RMD required dates even further. Those born between 1951 and 1959 are required to start taking money out at age 73. People born in 1960 or later can wait until age 75. That’s a great thing because it allows their money to grow longer without being taxed. Some people might consider not taking their RMDs, but the IRS would penalize them for that. The penalty for a missed RMD used to be 50%. So if the requirement were $10,000, the IRS would charge $5,000. Now that amount is 25%, and if corrected promptly, the penalty is reduced to just 10%. 

SECURE Act 2.0

One of the best changes made by SECURE 2.0 is that it made it possible to transfer funds from a college savings account, also known as a 529, to a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. This process can start in 2024, but several conditions must be satisfied before a transfer can be valid. The Roth IRA receiving the funds must be in the name of the beneficiary of the 529 plan. The 529 plan must have been maintained for 15 years or longer, and any earnings and contributions to the 529 plan within the last five years are ineligible to be moved to a Roth IRA. 

The annual limit for these transfers is whatever the individual’s limit is for a Roth IRA that year. The maximum amount that can be moved from a 529 plan to a Roth IRA in an individual’s lifetime is $35,000. This new strategy could be used for higher net-worth families to prime the retirement pump for children, grandchildren, and other loved ones. A meaningful contribution could be made to a 529 plan when the child is born. Then, after the account has existed for over 15 years, the account’s funds could be moved to a Roth IRA for the child’s benefit. The transfer rules require that the child have compensation, such as from a summer or part-time job, to make the transfers. The child’s Roth IRA balance by age 65 could potentially approach or even exceed a million dollars, all tax-free

Resources & People MentionedSecure Act 2.0 Detailed BreakdownMaxing Out Your Life with a Mini-RetirementToo Much Money & Too Few Memories
Connect with Jonny Westhttps://BetterPlanningBetterLife.com Connect with Jonny on LinkedIn

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