Sixty and Single
  • Home
  • Workshop
  • Newly Single
  • Events
  • ARTICLES
  • My Story
  • Resources
  • Home
  • Workshop
  • Newly Single
  • Events
  • ARTICLES
  • My Story
  • Resources

April 27, 2022

4/29/2022

 

Congress wants to help more Americans save for retirement with the Secure Act 2.0

BY JULIA ANDERSON
Later this year, Congress likely will pass the Secure Act 2.0 in an attempt to get more Americans saving for retirement. At the same time the bill gives retirees more time to take money out.

This is a big deal because only 50 percent of American households use a retirement account. That is unchanged in the past 20 years. Even more depressing is that heads of households between ages 35 and 44 are actually LESS likely now to own a retirement account than 20 years ago.
 
The bill basics:
If passed later this year out of the Senate, the Secure Act 2.0 would expand enrollment in tax-deferred retirement accounts by offering a tax credit up to $500 to enrollees who elect to enroll in an auto-enrollment retirement savings program. The tax credit applies the first three years of participation.
 
More employers will be required to AUTOMATICALLY enroll new employees in a retirement savings plan with a 3 percent payroll deduction level that ticks up annually until it reaches 10 percent. Employees must opt out of the plan, rather than opt in. It also allows part-time workers to participate in a 401(k) plan. That would benefit many women who juggle family and a part-time job.
 
If passed, the bill would raise catch-up contribution limits for people 62, 63 and 64: The contribution limit goes from $6,500 a year to $10,000 a year for this age group. But the additional contributions must be in after-tax Roth IRA contributions.
 
The bill improves and simplifies a SAVER’S TAX CREDIT for medium and low-income households starting in 2027. This provision increases the number of people who qualify to save in an employers’ retirement account.
 
For those near retirement, the bill again raises the age when people would be required to start withdrawing money from their retirement accounts from a current age 72 to 75 by 2033.
 
Small businesses would receive more incentives for launching retirement plans. Student borrowers would get extra assistance with loans.
 
EXAMPLE: According to Forbes magazine: A married couple earning $50,000 a year and saving $4,000 annually in a retirement account would get a $400 tax credit in addition to matching money from an employer and a tax deduction on their federal taxes for the money saved.
 
OUTLOOK: Secure Act 2.0 is expected to be taken up in the U.S. Senate after the August 2022 recess and then become part of a larger end-of-year spending bill or it could remain a stand-alone bill and pass on its own.

NEGATIVES of this bill: Critics say this bill does not do enough: It doesn’t tackle why more Americans are doing nothing to save for retirement. Some see a universal coverage plan as a better solution. Something like a Social Security account for long-term savings rather than leaving it to individual employers to find account managers and set up programs. 
Meanwhile, workers can go long stretches without having access to a retirement savings plan because they lose a job, or work for an employer without a retirement plan. Also people switch jobs and take out their money. Money leaking out of existing retirement accounts is a problem. The bill does nothing to address that.

My summary touches the surface of the reform bill. For more:
Kiplinger, click here.
Forbes, click here.
WSJ "How to get Americans to Save for Retirement" - click here.
​

My 2022 Smart Women Smart Money interview with Helen Raptis at KATU's AM Northwest

​"It is never too late to start managing your money,"         Julia Anderson, author, journalist and television host. 

​A big thank you to Helen Raptis, host of AM Northwest at Portland’s KATU Channel 2 for profiling me and my newly updated 2022 book, “Smart Women Smart Money Smart Life.” Helen is such a good interviewer and gets right to the heart of things:
 
- Mistakes women make when planning (or not planning) for retirement.
 
- Lessons we learned from Covid-19 (a whole chapter in my 2022 book).
 
- Mistakes I made with my own money over my work life.
 
- Why women were hit hard by Covid-19 layoffs and shutdowns.

 Here’s a link to the interview:
 
https://katu.com/amnw/am-northwest-books-authors/smart-women-smart-money-smart-life-03-01-2022
 
Thanks again to the crew at KATU's 
AM Northwest for arranging this interview.
JULIA ​

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Julia anderson

    I meet women all the time who face job and money transitions and who want to do them right. It’s about building confidence and taking charge of  the future.  This is your money.  No one cares more than you do! 

    Archives

    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    February 2011

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Women: Retirement Planning
    Women: Saving And Investing

Editor's note: All information provided at sixtyandsingle.com is for informational purposes only. Sixtyandsingle.com makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any damages arising from its display or use.

    Follow by email

Submit