New Year, New World: A Short Guide to the SECURE Act for Retirement Plan Sponsors and Administrators


The SECURE Act, included as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, was signed into law on December 20, 2019.  This new law contains many significant changes that may impact employer-sponsored benefit plans.

Given the scope of the law and the number of changes, we will release a series of blog posts exploring the new rules affecting employer-sponsored benefit plans and outlining best practices for implementation.  Here is a short summary of the SECURE Act changes to health plans. Below is a chronological guide to the key retirement plan issues raised by the new law, most of which we will address in more detail in upcoming blog posts in this series.

SECURE Act Changes Effective Upon Enactment

SECURE Act Changes Effective for Distributions Made After December 31, 2019

SECURE Act Changes Effective for Plan Years Beginning After December 31, 2019

SECURE Act Changes Effective for Plan Years Beginning After December 31, 2020

SECURE Act Changes Effective for Plan Years Beginning After December 31, 2021

SECURE Act Changes – Special Effective Dates

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Almost all tax-qualified retirement plans will need to be reviewed for possible amendments to reflect the SECURE Act, which provides for a remedial amendment period for making these amendments until the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2022 (with a delayed deadline for certain collectively bargained plans).


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