401kSECURE 2.0 Act Changes
The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed into law in December 2022, made dozens of changes to retirement plan rules that are still phasing in on different schedules. Here's a plain-English summary of the ones most relevant to 401(k) taxation.
Reviewed January 2026 against current IRS guidance.
Required minimum distributions
- Raised the RMD starting age to 73 (from 72), with a further increase to 75 scheduled for 2033. See required minimum distributions for the birth-year schedule.
- Reduced the excise tax penalty for missing an RMD from 25% to as low as 10% if corrected within a defined window (previously the penalty had been a flat 50% before an earlier reduction to 25%).
- Eliminated lifetime RMDs for Roth 401(k) accounts starting in 2024, matching the treatment Roth IRAs have always had.
Catch-up contributions
- Created a larger "super" catch-up contribution limit specifically for savers ages 60 through 63, starting in 2025. See catch-up contributions.
- Introduced a requirement that catch-up contributions be made on a Roth basis for higher-earning employees above a wage threshold, with the effective date adjusted through IRS transition guidance after the original law passed.
New penalty-free withdrawal categories
SECURE 2.0 added several new exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, including distributions for domestic abuse victims, terminal illness, a limited emergency personal expense withdrawal (up to $1,000 per year), and federally declared disasters. See the full list on the early withdrawal penalty page.
Roth employer contributions
Gave plans the option (not a requirement) to let employees elect Roth tax treatment for employer matching and non-elective contributions, which are taxable to the employee in the year contributed but grow tax-free afterward. See employer match & vesting.
Automatic enrollment
Requires many new 401(k) plans established after December 29, 2022 to automatically enroll eligible employees at a default deferral rate, with automatic annual increases, subject to exceptions for small businesses, new companies, and certain other plan types. Employees can still opt out.
Student loan matching
Allows (but does not require) employers to make matching contributions to a 401(k) based on an employee's qualified student loan payments, treating the loan payments as if they were elective deferrals for matching purposes — aimed at employees who can't afford to both pay down student debt and contribute to a retirement plan.
Emergency savings accounts linked to retirement plans
Permits employers to offer a "pension-linked emergency savings account" alongside a 401(k) for non-highly-compensated employees, allowing limited after-tax contributions with penalty-free access, separate from the retirement plan's own emergency withdrawal category.
This list isn't exhaustive
SECURE 2.0 contains dozens of provisions phasing in across different years through the early 2030s. This page covers the changes most directly tied to how 401(k) contributions and withdrawals are taxed — always check whether a specific provision has taken effect yet before relying on it.