Bill to Raise RMD Age to 75 Is Coming Back in New Congress

By Melanie Waddell

News January 19, 2021 at 02:59 PM

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House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., plans to reintroduce in the new Congress the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020, which would boost the required minimum distribution age from 72 to 75.

"Strengthening retirement policy continues to be a priority of mine, and improving Americans' long-term financial security has taken on even greater importance now that so many people have had to draw from their savings during the COVID crisis," Neal told ThinkAdvisor in a Tuesday email message. "I plan to reintroduce the Securing a Strong Retirement Act this Congress and expect it will pass with broad bipartisan support, just as the SECURE Act did in 2019."

The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020, commonly called Secure Act 2.0, builds on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act of 2019.

Other priorities for Neal in the new Congress, which he laid out in a 14-page framework, include:

Strengthening and improving Social Security benefits, particularly for low-wage workers;
Protecting Social Security disability benefits from harmful regulations and other attacks designed to reduce access to benefits; and
Implementing automatic IRAs and 401(k)s; requiring automatic enrollment in 401(k)-type plans.

Neal was reelected chairman of Ways and Means, the House's chief tax-writing committee, on Dec. 3.

Neal and ranking member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, introduced the Secure Act 2.0 on Oct. 27.

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