A retirement headline can sound like a rule you need to follow today. Often, it is only an idea Congress is considering. Start with the status scorecard below, then open the entry that matters to you: what could change, who it affects, whether it is law, and the latest action we verified.
Scope: selected federal retirement measures, not every bill or a live congressional docket. A proposal does not change your contribution room or tax rules. Executive action is labeled separately; agency guidance belongs on the IRS Notice & Ruling Tracker.
Congress status scorecard
These are status labels, not policy grades or predictions about passage. Follow a topic for its sources and check date.
- 529-to-Roth cap removalProposedThe $35,000 lifetime cap still applies.
- Retirement Savings for Americans ActProposedA separate federal savings program, not an available benefit.
- Saver’s MatchLaw · starts 2027Enacted already; first qualifying tax year is 2027.
- Trump AccountsLaw · funding openChildren’s accounts; enrollment is not the federal seed election.
- TrumpIRA.govExecutive actionAn IRA information portal, not a new IRA type.
- SECURE 2.0 technical correctionsDraft historyA discussion draft is not an enacted amendment.
Looking for older law? Jump to SECURE, SECURE 2.0 and the 2017 tax law. Source-check dates appear in each entry; they are not dates when the law changed.
Proposals we are watching
These measures are worth understanding, but do not plan a transaction as though they have passed.
529 Retirement Enhancement Act of 2026
S. 5550 · 119th Congress · introduced text, September 24, 2026
Official action record checked October 8, 2026.
- What might change?
- The bill would remove the lifetime ceiling on qualifying transfers from a 529 education-savings account to its beneficiary’s Roth IRA.
- Who is affected?
- Families with unused 529 savings, especially when the beneficiary could otherwise qualify for additional transfers over time.
- Is it law yet?
- No. Current law still limits these transfers to $35,000 over the beneficiary’s lifetime.
- Latest action verified
- Introduced by Senators Ted Cruz and Lisa Blunt Rochester on September 24, 2026 and referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The September 30 announcement is publicity, not a second legislative action.
| Rule | Law now | S. 5550 as introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime ceiling | $35,000 per beneficiary | Removed |
| Annual room | Limited by applicable IRA room, reduced by other IRA contributions | Unchanged |
| Other conditions | 15-year account rule, five-year contribution lookback, direct transfer and compensation requirements | Unchanged |
| When it applies | Current rules apply now | Tax years beginning after enactment, if enacted; no guaranteed 2027 start |
The practical takeaway: removing a lifetime cap would not allow an unlimited one-year transfer. See the 529-to-Roth guide for current rules and unresolved guidance questions.
S. 5550, §2 · Official action record (XML) · IRS Publication 590-A, qualified tuition program rollover · Current §529(c)(3)(E)
Retirement Savings for Americans Act
S. 1526 / H.R. 2696 · 119th Congress · introduced versions
Both official action records checked October 8, 2026.
- What might change?
- A separate federal retirement-savings program with automatic enrollment, an opt-out option and federal contributions for eligible workers.
- Who is affected?
- Eligible employees without suitable workplace retirement coverage, along with qualifying self-employed workers. Separate income rules determine federal contributions; this would not be a new benefit for every IRA owner.
- Is it law yet?
- No. This proposal is separate from both today’s Roth IRA rules and the enacted Saver’s Match.
- Latest action verified
- S. 1526: referred to Senate Finance on April 30, 2025. H.R. 2696: referred to Education and Workforce and Ways and Means on April 7, 2025. The checked records show no passage or enactment. Later cosponsors indicate support, not legislative approval.
S. 1526, introduced text · H.R. 2696, introduced text · Senate action record (XML) · House action record (XML)
Enacted changes: what starts next?
Congress has already passed these laws. A future start date is different from a proposal waiting for a vote.
Saver’s Match: saving in 2027, claiming later
SECURE 2.0 §103 / IRC §6433 · enacted December 29, 2022
Statute and Notice 2026-48 checked October 8, 2026.
- What changes?
- Up to $1,000 per eligible person, based on qualifying retirement contributions. Two spouses can receive up to $2,000 combined only if each independently qualifies.
- Who is affected?
- Eligible low- and moderate-income savers, subject to income, age, student, dependent and other rules. Roth saving can qualify, but Treasury’s direct payment does not go to a Roth account.
- Is it law yet?
- Yes. The first qualifying year is 2027; that year’s claim is made with the tax return filed in 2028, not a January 2027 cash payment.
- Latest implementation source
- Notice 2026-48, released August 7, 2026, describes intended claim and payment procedures. It is not a final regulation; operational details remain under development.
See the Saver’s Match calendar for what to track before contributions begin.
Trump Accounts: children’s savings, not an adult Roth IRA
OBBBA §70204 / IRC §530A · enacted July 4, 2025
Identified statutory and implementation sources checked October 8, 2026.
- What changed?
- Congress created a children’s account with special growth-period rules. The ordinary contribution cap is $5,000 for 2026 and 2027; federal pilot money, qualified general contributions and qualified rollovers are excluded. The employer exclusion is $2,500 per employee, not per child, and employer contributions count toward the ordinary cap.
- Who is affected?
- An initial-account election generally requires a valid Social Security number and a child under 18 at the end of the election year. The separate $1,000 federal pilot requires an eligible U.S.-citizen child born in 2025–2028.
- Is it law yet?
- Yes. Funding launched July 4, 2026. A later Roth conversion is optional, not automatic, and its pretax portion is taxable.
- Latest implementation sources
- Treasury’s October 1 automatic-enrollment announcement and September 30 temporary regulations. Claiming and activating an automatically created account does not replace the separate federal pilot election. The regulations include a narrow qualified-donated-stock exception, not unrestricted family stock selection.
See the Trump Accounts guide for enrollment, investment conditions and the age-18 transition. Proposed rules are separated from effective temporary rules on the IRS tracker.
Form 4547 instructions · Publication 15 (2026) · T.D. 10056, temporary regulations · July 4 funding launch · October 1 enrollment announcement
Executive action: a different kind of authority
TrumpIRA.gov: finding a low-cost IRA
Executive Order 14403 · April 30, 2026 · order checked October 8, 2026.
- What is directed?
- Treasury is directed to establish an information portal by January 1, 2027 listing qualifying private-sector IRAs, with an overall net-expense-ratio ceiling of 0.15% and no minimum contribution or balance.
- Who is affected?
- The focus is workers without employer-sponsored retirement coverage. That focus is not a universal restriction on who may own an IRA.
- Is it a new law?
- No. This is executive action implementing existing authority. The Saver’s Match was enacted separately by Congress; the portal does not create a new IRA type.
- Latest action verified
- The April 30 order directs establishment by January 1. That deadline is not evidence that every operational feature is already available.
The similar names are easy to mix up: TrumpIRA.gov is the adult savings portal; Trump Accounts are children’s accounts.
Legislative history: why today’s rules look this way
Keep these reference points separate from the current proposals above. An old draft is not a new bill, and an old start date is not today’s deadline.
SECURE 2.0 technical corrections
Senate Finance discussion draft · December 6, 2023
Identified draft checked October 8, 2026.
- What might change?
- The draft proposed repairs to wording in SECURE 2.0. A technical correction still needs legislation; it does not become law merely because it is called a correction.
- Who is affected?
- Savers and plans subject to the provisions that a particular enacted amendment would change.
- Is it law yet?
- This identified discussion draft is not law. Do not substitute it for the enacted statute or applicable regulations.
- Latest action verified
- The committee record identifies the December 6, 2023 draft release. We did not verify later advancement of this package; current congressional search access was limited. Treasury’s final RMD and catch-up regulations are separate implementing authority, not congressional amendments.
Senate Finance draft · T.D. 10001, RMD rules · T.D. 10033, catch-up rules
SECURE 2.0
- What changed?
- Among other provisions: Saver’s Match (§103), later required-distribution ages (§107), 529-to-Roth transfers (§126), reduced missed-distribution excise tax (§302), Roth SEP/SIMPLE options (§601), and the high-earner Roth catch-up requirement (§603).
- Who is affected?
- Different savers, beneficiaries and workplace plans under each provision’s own conditions.
- Is it law?
- Yes. It is Division T of P.L. 117-328, not a proposal. The provisions did not all start together.
- Action and source check
- Enacted December 29, 2022; law checked October 8, 2026. Implementation and transition rules belong in the relevant guides and IRS tracker.
OBBBA: no scheduled individual-rate sunset
- What changed?
- P.L. 119-21 §70101 removed the scheduled expiry of the 2017 individual rate structure. The 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% rates continue without a scheduled end date; bracket thresholds remain subject to inflation adjustment.
- Who is affected?
- Individual taxpayers, including savers weighing the tax cost of a Roth conversion.
- Is it law?
- Yes. “Permanent” means no statutory expiry, not that Congress cannot change the rates later.
- Action and source check
- Enacted July 4, 2025; statutory and IRS sources checked October 8, 2026. The old 2025 sunset is not a pending tax cliff.
SECURE Act of 2019
- What changed?
- It replaced lifetime payout treatment with a ten-year rule for most non-spouse designated beneficiaries, while retaining separate eligible-designated-beneficiary rules. It also raised the required-distribution age from 70½ to 72 at that time; later law changed it again.
- Who is affected?
- Retirement-account owners and beneficiaries, with timing and beneficiary-type exceptions.
- Is it law?
- Yes. This is historical context, not a statement that every heir has the same ten-year schedule.
- Action and source check
- Enacted December 20, 2019; Division O, §§114 and 401 checked October 8, 2026.
Use the inherited-Roth guide for current beneficiary and withdrawal conditions.
2017 tax law: Roth conversions cannot be undone this way
- What changed?
- The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ended recharacterization of Roth conversions made in 2018 or later. Recharacterization means treating the transaction as though it had been made to a different IRA type.
- Who is affected?
- Savers considering a Roth conversion. Rules for recharacterizing an eligible regular contribution are different.
- Is it law?
- Yes. The old transition deadline for a 2017 conversion was October 15, 2018; it is not an ongoing one-year undo window.
- Action and source check
- P.L. 115-97 was enacted December 22, 2017; IRS recharacterization guidance checked October 8, 2026. Its individual-rate sunset was later removed by OBBBA.
How to use this tracker
Read the status before the headline. Introduction, referral to a committee and passage in one chamber are not enactment. A committee studies bills; referral does not mean approval. A sponsor’s announcement does not replace the official action record.
Read the two dates separately. The action date tells you what happened. The source-check date tells you when we examined the identified record. Neither promises that nothing has happened since. This is a selected, periodically checked reference, not a complete or live congressional docket.
Related pages
IRS Notice & Ruling Tracker for implementing regulations. Changelog for site updates. Editorial guidelines.
Corrections and updates
October 8, 2026 update: added the introduced 529 lifetime-cap proposal and a current-law comparison. Organized proposals, enacted changes, executive action and legislative history separately, with a status scorecard and per-entry source-check dates. Proposal coverage does not change current rollover rules.
October 2, 2026 update: added the new automatic-enrollment framework and qualified-donated-stock exception, and identified the withdrawn March account-establishment proposal. Other entries retain their stated historical scope.
September 24, 2026 correction: removed unsupported descriptions of active “SECURE 3.0” drafts and a blended billionaire-tax/mega-IRA proposal. Replaced undated activity claims with identified historical draft and bill versions. Corrected the catch-up authority, Trump Account eligibility and contribution qualifications, the two proposal comment deadlines, and the 2017 conversion recharacterization deadline. Public correction record.
September 24, 2026 update: added the August 7, 2026 Saver’s Match implementation notice, distinguishing intended procedures from final regulations and operational instructions still under development.