Industry News

On December 4, 2024, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) released its comprehensive reference guide, SECURE 2.0: A Desk Reference for Governmental Plans. This guide provides detailed information regarding the SECURE 2.0 Act for public employee retirement system staff and trustees. It includes action steps, amendment deadlines, and the most recent IRS guidance on relevant provisions.

Since the SECURE 2.0 Act was signed into law, it has made significant changes to retirement plan laws. Retirement plan sponsors have been working to understand the impact of the new provisions on their plans, employees and retirees. With about 90 provisions, the legislation significantly affects the retirement savings for American workers.

The changes will require existing plans to implement operational adjustments to comply with mandatory provisions of the law. Some of the provisions have been in effect since 2022. In addition, there are optional provisions that may provide employees with new opportunities for savings and more flexibility in distributions.

For governmental plans, the deadline to adopt amendments required (or optionally permitted) by SECURE 1.0, the CARES Act, and SECURE 2.0 is December 31, 2029. However, plans must comply with the provisions of SECURE 2.0 as of the applicable effective dates.

The guide is available here.