How SECURE 2.0 works: changes phased in over a decade
SECURE 2.0 did not switch on all at once. Its more than 90 sections take effect on different dates, from the day it was signed through 2033, so the practical question is usually which provision applies, and from what year; the table below lists the main ones by start date. It built on the 2019 SECURE Act, and retirement-plan rules such as these come from the two SECURE laws rather than from the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which dealt mainly with income tax.
Many provisions are optional for employers. A plan may add Roth employer contributions, an emergency savings account or student-loan matching, but it does not have to, so what you can use depends on your plan document as well as the law. Others apply whether or not an employer opts in: the new RMD ages, the Roth catch-up rule for higher earners, automatic enrollment in new plans and wider access for part-time workers.
Some dollar limits are now indexed for inflation for the first time, including the IRA catch-up, which rose from $1,000 to $1,100 for 2026, and the annual limit on qualified charitable distributions, which is $111,000 for 2026.
Required minimum distribution changes
SECURE 2.0 pushed back the starting age for required minimum distributions twice. Anyone who turns 72 after 2022 starts at 73, and anyone who turns 74 after 2032 starts at 75. By birth year, that means 73 for people born from 1951 through 1958 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later. The statute describes 1959 births both ways, and proposed regulations resolve that at 73. The first RMD is still due by April 1 of the year after you reach the starting age.
It also softened the penalty for missing an RMD. The excise tax on a shortfall fell from 50% to 25%, and to 10% if you take the missed amount and report the tax within a correction window that generally runs about two years. Since 2024, designated Roth accounts in 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans have no RMDs during the owner’s lifetime, matching Roth IRAs, so a Roth 401(k) no longer has to be rolled to a Roth IRA just to avoid them.
Two smaller changes help people who want to shrink RMDs. The premium limit for a qualifying longevity annuity contract, which stays outside RMDs until it pays, lost its old 25%-of-balance cap and is $210,000 for 2026. And IRA owners 70½ or older may make a one-time QCD to a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity, capped at $55,000 for 2026.
Catch-ups, Roth options and 529 rollovers
The law reshaped catch-up contributions. Since 2025, workers who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year can make a higher catch-up in a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b): $11,250 for 2026, on top of the $24,500 base limit, compared with $8,000 at other ages from 50. From 2026, anyone whose FICA wages from the plan’s employer exceeded $150,000 in the prior year must make catch-ups as Roth contributions, taxed now rather than at withdrawal.
Roth options widened in other ways. Employers may let workers take matching or nonelective contributions as Roth money, which the worker includes in taxable income, and SEP and SIMPLE IRAs can accept Roth contributions. Since 2024, a 529 plan open at least 15 years can roll up to $35,000 over the beneficiary’s lifetime into that person’s Roth IRA, within the annual Roth contribution limit.
Starting in 2027, the Saver’s Match will deposit federal money into the retirement accounts of lower- and moderate-income savers: 50% of up to $2,000 of contributions, or as much as $1,000 a year per person, phasing out as income rises.
Access to savings before retirement
Several provisions let savers reach retirement money in a pinch without the 10% early withdrawal penalty, although income tax still applies to pre-tax money. Since 2024 you may take one emergency personal expense withdrawal a year of up to $1,000, which can be repaid within three years. Victims of domestic abuse may withdraw the lesser of $10,500 for 2026 or half the account. Account owners certified as terminally ill, meaning a condition expected to cause death within 84 months, are exempt from the penalty, and people affected by a federally declared disaster can take up to $22,000.
Employers gained new tools too. A 401(k) can include a pension-linked emergency savings account that holds Roth contributions, capped at $2,600 for 2026. An employer may treat an employee’s student-loan payments like 401(k) deferrals when figuring its match, so workers paying off loans do not miss out. New 401(k) and 403(b) plans must automatically enroll workers from 2025, and long-term part-time employees now qualify after two years of at least 500 hours instead of three.
Illustrative numbers
A retiree misses a $40,000 RMD: the penalty before and after SECURE 2.0
- RMD shortfall
- The required minimum distribution for the year minus the amount actually withdrawn by the deadline
- Correction window
- Ends at the earliest of an IRS deficiency notice, assessment of the tax, or the last day of the second tax year after the year the tax is imposed
The IRS may waive the tax entirely if the shortfall was a reasonable error that is being corrected; the request goes on Form 5329.
Required minimum distribution not taken$40,000
Excise tax at the pre-2023 rate of 50%$20,000
Excise tax at SECURE 2.0’s 25% rate$10,000
Excise tax at 10% if corrected within the window$4,000
Income tax on the $40,000 withdrawalOwed in every case
Taking the missed $40,000 and filing Form 5329 within the correction window cuts the penalty from $10,000 to $4,000, and a waiver request for reasonable error can remove it entirely. Under the old 50% rate, the same slip would have cost $20,000 before any waiver.
At a glance
Main SECURE 2.0 changes by the year they took effect
| Change | Starts | 2026 detail |
|---|---|---|
| QLAC premium limit raised; 25% cap dropped | Dec. 29, 2022 | $210,000 |
| RMD age raised to 73 | 2023 | 73 if born 1951–1959 |
| Missed-RMD excise tax cut from 50% | 2023 | 25%, or 10% if corrected |
| Roth contributions to SEP and SIMPLE IRAs | 2023 | If the employer allows |
| No lifetime RMDs from Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts | 2024 | None required |
| 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers | 2024 | $35,000 lifetime |
| Emergency withdrawal without the 10% penalty | 2024 | Up to $1,000 a year |
| Student-loan payments can earn an employer match | 2024 | If the plan allows |
| IRA catch-up indexed for inflation | 2024 | $1,100 |
| Higher catch-up at ages 60–63 | 2025 | $11,250 |
| Automatic enrollment in new 401(k) and 403(b) plans | 2025 | 3%–10% of pay to start |
| Roth catch-up for higher earners | 2026 | Prior-year wages over $150,000 |
| Saver’s Match deposits | 2027 | Up to $1,000 a year |
| RMD age raised to 75 | 2033 | First applies to people born in 1960, who turn 75 in 2035 |
Put it in your plan
SECURE 2.0 in MoneyWhatIf
MoneyWhatIf applies the 2026 contribution limits for each person and account, including the age 60–63 higher catch-up; the rule that certain higher earners’ workplace catch-ups must be Roth is not modeled. Required minimum distributions start at 73, or 75 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and a plan with the QCD switch on pays declared charitable giving from the IRA, capped at the annual limit and counted toward the RMD. Limits are a 2026 snapshot carried forward with plan inflation.
Common questions
SECURE 2.0 FAQs
Which SECURE 2.0 changes take effect in 2026?
Three stand out. Catch-ups must be Roth for workers whose prior-year FICA wages from the plan’s employer topped $150,000. ABLE accounts open to people whose disability began before 46, up from 26. And for distributions after December 29, 2025, a workplace plan may pay up to the lesser of $2,600 or 10% of the vested balance a year for long-term care insurance premiums without the 10% penalty, although income tax still applies. The IRA catch-up also rose for the first time under the new indexing, to $1,100.
Who has to make Roth catch-up contributions in 2026?
Workers 50 or older whose FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded $150,000 in 2025. Their catch-up contributions to a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) must be Roth, taxed now rather than later, while regular deferrals up to $24,500 can still be pre-tax. Plans may use a good-faith reading of the law for 2026; final IRS regulations generally apply from 2027.
Can I roll a 529 plan into a Roth IRA?
Yes, since 2024, if the 529 has been maintained for the beneficiary for at least 15 years. The money moves by direct trustee-to-trustee transfer to the beneficiary’s own Roth IRA, up to $35,000 over their lifetime, and each year’s rollover counts against the annual Roth IRA limit, $7,500 for 2026. Contributions made in the last five years, and their earnings, cannot be rolled.
Does SECURE 2.0 require my employer to auto-enroll me?
Only if your 401(k) or 403(b) plan was established on or after December 29, 2022. Those plans must automatically enroll eligible employees from 2025 plan years at 3% to 10% of pay, rising one point a year to at least 10%. Older plans, SIMPLE 401(k) plans, businesses less than three years old, employers with 10 or fewer employees, and church and governmental plans are exempt, and you can always opt out or change the rate.