Several items in the spending bill just signed by President Trump will prove of great importance to many Geyer Law clients going into the new year. At Geyer Law, where we are members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), we were particularly interested in the new provisions of the SECURE Act, which affects both retirement and estate planning in important ways.
The acronym SECURE stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement.
Some highlights of the law include:
- There will be no age limits for traditional IRA contributions. (Many of our clients continue to work, and this new law will allow them to continue putting away money tax-deferred.)
- Required Minimum Distributions will not need to begin until age 72 (instead of 70 ½). Those who can afford to defer income will benefit by deferring withdrawals (which are taxed as ordinary income and can push them into higher tax brackets and into paying a surtax on Medicare and Social Security benefits).
- On inherited IRAs, all funds must now be withdrawn from the inherited IRA within ten years of the participant’s death, with exceptions now made for people with disabilities and for spouses.
At Geyer Law, we applaud any legislative initiative that helps retirees gain flexibility in their retirement and estate planning. .
The new spending bill holds additional advantages for our senior clients, including:
- 30% increase in money for dementia and Alzherimer’s research.
- increase in housing programs for low-income seniors
- increase in funding for aging and disability resource centers and family caregiver support
Overall, the passing of the new spending bill marks an auspicious start for the new year of 2020!
