If you sponsor a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, you have probably already made several operational changes over the past few years to stay in step with the SECURE 2.0 Act. What many plan sponsors have not yet done is formalize those changes on paper. The IRS has set December 31, 2026, as the deadline for most qualified retirement plans to adopt the required written amendments reflecting SECURE Act, CARES Act, and SECURE 2.0 provisions. That date can feel far off, but plan documents, payroll systems, and recordkeeper coordination all take time to align, and the work involved is more substantial than a single signature on an amendment form.
Why the Deadline Exists
Since 2019, Congress has passed a series of laws that reshaped how retirement plans operate. SECURE 2.0 alone introduced nearly 90 provisions, some mandatory and some optional, making it the most sweeping retirement legislation in more than a decade. Because the volume and complexity of these changes were so significant, the IRS allowed plan sponsors to operate in good faith compliance, meaning employers could implement provisions in practice before the formal plan documents caught up. That transition period is now ending. Under IRS Notice 2024-2, most calendar-year qualified plans and nongovernmental 403(b) plans must adopt their required amendments by the end of this year. Governmental and certain collectively bargained plans generally have more time.
The deadline is not limited to provisions with an effective date of 2026. It covers every required change from this wave of legislation, regardless of when the underlying rule took effect. That means a plan sponsor cannot simply amend for the newest rules and call it done. The amendment needs to be comprehensive, either as one consolidated document or as a coordinated set of amendments that together capture everything.
What Should Already Be in Place Operationally
Before the paperwork catches up, it is worth confirming the plan is operating correctly on a few provisions that are already mandatory.
Long-term part-time employee eligibility is one of the more commonly missed requirements. Employees who complete at least 500 hours of service in each of two consecutive 12-month periods must now be allowed to make elective deferrals, a shortened window from the original three-year rule. Employers are not required to contribute on these employees’ behalf, but exclusion from deferral opportunities is a compliance issue.
Automatic enrollment is another. New 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after the SECURE 2.0 effective date generally must include automatic enrollment and automatic escalation features, with initial deferral rates typically falling between 3 and 10 percent of compensation. Existing plans are generally grandfathered, but any newly established plan needs to build this in from the start.
The required minimum distribution age has also moved, from 72 to 73, with a further increase to 75 scheduled for 2033. This affects how you communicate with participants approaching retirement age and how your recordkeeper is tracking distribution triggers.
The Provision Getting the Most Attention Right Now
The change generating the most questions from plan sponsors this year is the Roth catch-up requirement for higher earners. Starting January 1, 2026, catch-up contributions from employees whose prior-year FICA wages exceeded the indexed threshold (145,000 dollars, adjusted annually) must be treated as Roth deferrals rather than pre-tax contributions. If your plan currently only allows pre-tax catch-up contributions, you are effectively required to either add a Roth deferral option or limit catch-up contributions to employees below the wage threshold. There is a carve-out that allows employers to offer the higher catch-up limits to non-union employees while keeping collectively bargained employees under the standard limit, without running into universal availability problems.
The final regulations on this provision are not effective until 2027, and the IRS has said it will apply a reasonable, good faith compliance standard through the end of this year. That gives plan sponsors some breathing room on enforcement, but it does not remove the practical need to have payroll and recordkeeping systems ready to correctly source these contributions.
Related to this is the expanded catch-up opportunity for participants who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the plan year. This “super catch-up” allows for a contribution limit roughly 50 percent higher than the standard catch-up amount, giving employees in that narrow age band a meaningful window to accelerate savings before retirement.
What This Means for HR and Finance Teams
The amendment deadline is ultimately a documentation exercise, but getting there requires input from more than just legal counsel. HR needs to confirm eligibility tracking is correctly capturing part-time employee hours across consecutive 12-month periods. Payroll needs to be able to identify high earners subject to the Roth catch-up rule and route their contributions correctly. Finance should understand whether the plan has been claiming the enhanced start-up tax credits available to smaller employers, since SECURE 2.0 increased the credit to 100 percent of plan start-up costs for businesses with up to 50 employees, capped at 5,000 dollars annually for three years.
The most useful step a plan sponsor can take right now is a conversation with your recordkeeper or third-party administrator to confirm which amendments they are preparing on your behalf, on what timeline, and which decisions are being left to you as the plan sponsor. Some provisions in SECURE 2.0 are optional, and the amendment process is also your opportunity to formally decide whether you want to adopt features like penalty-free emergency withdrawals or expanded hardship distribution rules.
Waiting until the fourth quarter to start this process is not advisable given how many moving pieces are involved. If you have not already had this conversation with your plan’s counsel or administrator, now is the time to put it on the calendar.
