Retirement Trends

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.

The conglomerate announced its plan to halt pensions for non-union workers, shortly after IBM's announcement to resurrect DB plans, while other firms might need to reassess their own retirement strategies to assure an optimal fit.