SECURE 2.0: What Every Pre-Retiree Needs to Know in 2026

Back in 2019, Congress passed the original SECURE Act — the biggest overhaul to retirement account rules in decades. Then in December 2022, they did it again. SECURE 2.0 added more than 90 new provisions that affect how you save, when you're required to withdraw, and how much you can put away as you approach retirement.

If you wrote down notes from the first SECURE Act, a lot of them are already out of date. And if you haven't looked at this at all — you're not alone, but it's time to catch up. Some of these changes are working in your favor. Others create new decisions you didn't have before.

Let me walk you through the most important changes and what they actually mean for someone who's within ten years of retirement.

The Biggest Change: RMD Age Is Moving Again

Required Minimum Distributions — RMDs — are the IRS's way of making sure you eventually pay taxes on money sitting in your pre-tax accounts. You can defer taxes for a long time, but not forever.

The original SECURE Act pushed the RMD starting age from 70½ to 72. SECURE 2.0 pushed it again — to 73 as of 2023, and to 75 starting in 2033.

That might sound like a minor technicality, but it's actually a meaningful planning opportunity. Every year you delay RMDs is another year your pre-tax accounts can grow tax-deferred. It's also another year you could potentially be doing Roth conversions at a lower tax rate — converting money out of your traditional IRA into a Roth before the government forces your hand.

The Penalty for Missing an RMD Got Smaller

The original penalty for failing to take a required minimum distribution was brutal — 50% of the amount you failed to withdraw. That's not a typo. If you were supposed to take $20,000 and forgot, you owed the IRS $10,000 on top of the regular income tax.

SECURE 2.0 cut that penalty to 25% — and down to 10% if you catch the mistake quickly and correct it within two years.

That's still a penalty you don't want to pay. But it does reduce one of the more fear-inducing aspects of RMD management. The lesson here isn't to be careless — it's to have a system in place so you never miss one in the first place.

Catch-Up Contributions: More Room to Save — With a New Twist

If you're 50 or older, you've always been allowed to make catch-up contributions above the standard 401(k) limit. That's not changing. What is changing is how those catch-up contributions work for higher earners.

Starting in 2026, if you earn more than $145,000 in Social Security wages, your catch-up contributions must go into a Roth account rather than a pre-tax account. Your employer plan needs to offer a Roth option for this to work — and if it doesn't, you could temporarily lose catch-up eligibility.

Additionally, if you're between ages 60 and 63, SECURE 2.0 created a super catch-up provision: you can contribute up to $11,250 extra to your 401(k) in 2025, instead of the standard $7,500 catch-up. This is a significant savings opportunity if you're in that age range and have the cash flow to take advantage of it.

529 to Roth IRA Rollovers: A New Option for Families

This one was a welcome surprise. Starting in 2024, unused funds in a 529 college savings plan can be rolled over directly into a Roth IRA for the same beneficiary — up to $35,000 lifetime.

There are rules: the 529 account must have been open for at least 15 years, you can't roll over contributions made in the last five years, and annual Roth IRA contribution limits still apply. But for families who over-saved in a 529, or whose kids ended up with scholarships, this is a meaningful new option instead of taking the earnings out as taxable income.

Roth Options Are Expanding

One of the broader themes of SECURE 2.0 is pushing Roth options into more types of accounts. SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs — which are common tools for small business owners and self-employed people — can now accept Roth contributions. Previously, these were pre-tax only.

Also new: starting in 2024, Roth accounts inside workplace plans — Roth 401(k)s, for example — are no longer subject to RMDs while the account owner is alive. Previously, only Roth IRAs had this advantage. Now both are treated the same way. This makes the Roth 401(k) a more powerful long-term planning tool than it used to be.

Emergency Savings and Student Loan Matching

SECURE 2.0 also introduced some provisions you may not have heard about. Employers can now make matching contributions to employees' retirement plans based on their student loan payments — meaning if you're paying down student debt, you may qualify for a 401(k) match even if you're not contributing to the plan yourself.

There's also a new emergency savings account provision that allows employers to link a small emergency savings account to retirement plans — up to $2,500, with contributions treated as Roth. This one is still being rolled out by plan sponsors.

The Bottom Line

SECURE 2.0 is genuinely good news for most pre-retirees. More flexibility on RMDs, bigger catch-up opportunities at key ages, and expanded Roth access all move in the right direction.

But none of it matters if you don't know about it and don't build it into your plan. The window between now and when RMDs start is one of the most valuable planning periods in your entire financial life. Use the extra years. Be intentional about conversions. Max out catch-up contributions if you're in the 60–63 sweet spot.

The rules have changed. Make sure your plan reflects that.