529 account

Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Bob Casey (D-PA) have introduced the College Savings Recovery Act, to allow families to transfer unused funds in their college savings 529 accounts into a Roth IRA. The College Savings Recovery Act was originally included as part of Senator Burr’s Boost Savings for College Act proposed in 2017.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) has introduced S. 4265, the Inflation-Adjusted Education Investment Act. The proposal would increase the current limit on 529 plan distributions from $10,000 to $12,000. The bill would also make the new cap adjustable for inflation beginning in 2023.

May 3, 2022 - Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced S. 4103, the Helping Parents Save for College Act. The bill would provide low- and middle-income parents with a tax credit for contributions to 529 education savings accounts by expanding the Saver’s Credit. The credit would be worth up to 50 percent of 529 account contributions, with a maximum credit of $2,000 for low-and-middle income families.

Additionally, the proposal would allow plan beneficiaries to move excess funds from the 529 account to a Roth IRA without penalty, so long as the account was maintained for a 10-year period at the time of the distribution. This would alleviate concerns of adverse tax consequences if funds are not used for college. The amount eligible for rollover to a Roth IRA is limited to the lesser of the annual Roth contribution limit or the aggregate amount contributed to the program before the five-year period ending on the date of the distribution.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt far and wide, both in the U.S. and globally. But what has it meant for tax-advantaged savings levels in vehicles such as retirement , 529, and health savings & flexible spending accounts? Our proprietary data, tracked over the course of 2020, reveal shifts in contribution and withdrawal behaviors by business owners and individuals in response to the financial challenges posed by the pandemic. Overall, these insights suggest a continued appreciation for the importance of savings and the ability to access these savings when needed.

Our proprietary data reveals how Americans changed their savings behaviors over the course of the COVID-19 outbreak as business and travel restrictions disrupted the U.S. economy. These insights serve as an early baseline for the evolution of savings plan contribution and withdrawal behaviors in response to the pandemic and subsequent passage of the CARES Act. We expect to see new trends emerge as financial markets continue to rebound and stabilize and as states across the nation gradually reopen their economies.

For the past three years, Congress has attempted to pass major retirement reform legislation. It has finally succeeded with the year-end passage of two spending packages meant to avert a government shutdown. One of the packages, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (FCAA), includes multiple bills—including the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which contains several major retirement-related provisions. These provisions are nearly identical to those included in an earlier version of the SECURE Act that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May 2019. At the time of this publication, the President had not yet signed these bills into law. But it is widely anticipated that he will.

With growing bipartisan momentum that has lent new optimism for eventual enactment, comprehensive retirement legislation has been passed by the House of Representatives and now moves on to the U.S. Senate. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 passed in the House on May 23 with only token opposition, its 417-3 margin a demonstration of overwhelming support.