In the waning hours of 2019, Congress enacted the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019” (the SECURE Act). The Act included several previous legislative initiatives that had not been enacted, and generally incentivizes taxpayers to save for retirement.

Here are six provisions most relevant to churches and church staff:

• increases to 72 the age after which required minimum distributions from certain retirement accounts must begin;
• repeals the prohibition on contributions to a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) by an individual who has reached age 70½;
• allows penalty-free distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs for births and adoptions;
• specifies those individuals who may be covered by pension plans maintained by church-controlled organizations;
• expands “section 529” education savings accounts to cover costs associated with registered apprenticeships, student loan repayments, and certain costs associated with elementary and secondary education and homeschooling;