The Secure Act

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">he SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. Here are some key changes you should know as you plan for retirement:</span></p> <p class="p1">Generally, the SECURE Act:</p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">Removed Maximum Age limit for IRA Contributions</li> <li class="li1">Increased the age for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from age 70.5 to 72</li> <li class="li1">Enforces a 10yr distribution window for most inherited retirement accounts - no more stretch IRAs</li> </ul> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The SECURE Act is likely to increase age tax-qualified account balances because people will be encouraged to save more in these accounts. It will also increase government tax revenues because of the 10yr distribution rule on inherited accounts.</span></p> <p class="p1">Also under the Secure Act, employers get a tax credit by automatically enrolling employees in the company sponsored retirement plan (Small-Employer Automatic Enrollment Credit). <span class="s1">If you</span> <span class="s2">don’t</span> <span class="s1">want to be automatically enrolled into contributions to your company retirement plan you may need to take action to opt-out.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Now is a good time to consider how much of your money you wish to invest in tax-qualified accounts compared to paying the tax and building wealth in other types of accounts where you have more control, lower fees and less market risk.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">For example: Target-date mutual funds are a default option for most retirement plans with an automatic enrollment. Target-date funds are sold as a <em>“set it and forget it management strategy”</em> and they are also notorious for high fees. Fees are a killer whenever you try to grow your money.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Compare target-date funds with the guaranteed values that build in participating whole life insurance policy over a similar time period. It coul