Approximately 78% of people who work for companies with fewer than 10 employees and about 65% of those who work for companies with 10 to 24 employees do not have access to a retirement plan at work.1 That’s unfortunate, because workers with a retirement plan are far more likely to save for retirement than those…
The SECURE 2.0 legislation included in the $1.7 trillion appropriations bill passed late last year builds on changes established by the original Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE 1.0) enacted in 2019. SECURE 2.0 includes significant changes to the rules that apply to required minimum distributions from IRAs and employer retirement plans.…
On January 19, 2023, the outstanding debt of the U.S. government reached its statutory limit, commonly called the debt ceiling. The current limit was set by Congress at about $31.4 trillion in December 2021.1 On the day the limit was reached, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen instituted well-established “extraordinary measures” to allow necessary borrowing for a…
Amid the 1,650-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus spending legislation passed by Congress in late December were several provisions affecting work-sponsored retirement plans and, to a lesser degree, IRAs. Dubbed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 after the similarly sweeping Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act passed in 2019, the legislation is designed to improve…
The CHIPs and Science Act of 2022, signed into law on August 9, is a bipartisan legislation package that provides more than $50 billion in direct financial assistance for semiconductor companies to increase U.S.-based design, research, and manufacturing capabilities. In addition, the legislation authorizes nearly $170 billion in federal funding over five years for research…
On August 24, 2022, just a few days before federal student loan repayment was set to resume, President Biden announced a plan for additional student loan debt relief. Federal student loan repayment was originally halted in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. The new plan extends the payment moratorium through the end of…
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on August 16, 2022, includes healthcare and energy-related provisions, a new corporate alternative minimum tax, and an excise tax on certain corporate stock buybacks. Additional funding is also provided to the IRS. Some significant provisions in the Act are discussed below. Medicare The legislation authorizes the Department of…
With approximately 94% of American workers covered by Social Security and 65 million people currently receiving benefits, keeping Social Security healthy is a major concern.1 Social Security isn’t in danger of going broke — it’s financed primarily through payroll taxes — but its financial health is declining, and benefits may eventually be reduced unless Congress…
Before Russia stunned the world by invading Ukraine, it was widely believed that the economic ties formed through globalization would help promote peace. But the war is testing that assumption and drawing attention to the vulnerabilities in far-flung supply chains, which were already under pressure because of the pandemic and recovery. In response to the…
On April 6, the U.S. Department of Education announced a record sixth extension for federal student loan repayment, interest, and collections, through August 31, 2022.1 The fifth payment pause was set to end on April 30, 2022. The six extensions have postponed federal student loan payments for almost two and a half years — since…