U.S. Capitol building with traffic light nearby that's green One change is that participants will not be required to exhaust plan loan options before requesting a hardship withdrawal. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The Department of Treasury has finalized new rules on hardship withdrawals from defined contribution plans that were laid out in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Last November, Treasury issued proposed new hardship regs. "The final regulations are substantially similar to the proposed regulations, and plans that complied with the proposed regulations will satisfy the final regulations," according to the final rule, which is scheduled for official publication in the Federal Register on September 23.

Under the new reg, hardship withdrawals can be extended to include a plan participant's named primary beneficiary for qualifying medical, educational, and funeral expenses.

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Nick Thornton

Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.