SECURE 2.0 after one year and the future of retirement policy

This month marks the first anniversary of SECURE 2.0, the most significant retirement legislation enacted by Congress in the last 15 years. And the coming year will mark the 50th anniversary of the transformational Pension Reform Act of 1974, also known as ERISA. Over the last several decades, retirement policy in the U.S. has evolved gradually in a number of positive ways. Despite meaningful progress, far more remains to be done to address the major challenges affecting our nation’s retirement system: the continuing gaps in retirement coverage, leaving out tens of millions of working Americans; the persistent racial, ethnic, and gender gaps in wealth and retirement saving; the skewing of benefits toward the most affluent, leaving many who are covered with inadequate benefits; the systemic shift of financial risks onto individuals and their families, including the need to convert retirement savings balances into reliable retirement income; and more.

On January 24, the Retirement Security Project at Brookings convened an event to trace the evolution of retirement policy in recent decades, and discuss the many ways to make the retirement system work better for all Americans. Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Mark Iwry presented a new paper he co-authored with Bill Gale, Brookings senior fellow, and David John, AARP senior strategic policy advisor and Brookings nonresident senior fellow, that examines SECURE 2.0 against the overall retirement policy landscape. John then continued the conversation with a panel of experts including Regina Jefferson, professor of law at Catholic University Columbus School of Law, Fiona Greig, Vanguard Investment Strategy Group global head of investor research and policy, and Josh Gotbaum, guest scholar for Economic Studies at Brookings. Ben Harris, vice president and director of the Economic Studies program at Brookings, and director of the Retirement Security Project, provided concluding remarks.

Viewers joined the conversations and asked questions of the speakers and panelists by emailing [email protected] or on X/Twitter using the hashtag #RetirementSecurity.

Registration is required to attend an event in person and guests at Brookings are required to attest to their state of health before attending. Visitors may not enter the building if they are feeling ill for any reason, have any symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19, or have tested positive for COVID-19 at any time in the preceding 5 days or longer in accordance with current CDC guidance, or have been advised by their healthcare professional or otherwise to not enter any space where some persons may not be vaccinated.