Retirement Trends

"Employment extenders" - a growing segment of employees working beyond the traditional age of retirement - have unique needs that may influence how they use existing benefits but simultaneously be looking for new offerings.

Announced by the administration on Friday, the latest debt relief that affects teachers, nurses and firefighters comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this month fast-tracking the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.

Unlike emergency savings accounts that employers have rolled out over the past few years, these new SECURE 2.0 pension-linked accounts have auto-enrollment but employees must be given the chance to opt out.

The American Retirement Association estimates that 19 million additional workers will gain access to a workplace retirement plan through SECURE 2.0's Starter 401(k) provision alone.

The IRS has issued initial guidance to help plan sponsors implement the new pension-linked emergency savings accounts - and is open to comments in order to limit participant abuse of sidecar account matching contributions.

The automatic transfer of small-balance 401(k)s of workers who change jobs - now effective through SECURE 2.0 - could grow net incremental wealth by $1.5 trillion over 40 years, says the Retirement Clearinghouse.