Retirement Plan Updates - The Bulletin

Get the latest updates for our retirement plan solutions.

- RecordkeeperDirect®
  More fund flexibility coming soon
  
  RecordkeeperDirect (with fund flexibility) will soon enable you to offer investments from multiple fund families, while still using the American Funds and the service model you’re familiar with.
  
  This exciting new option will be available to new plans beginning in early June and existing plans in August.
  
  Make retirement plan loans easier for plan sponsors and participants
  
  Paper loan forms and many manual administrative tasks can soon be a thing of the past. Our electronic plan loan service offers online loan requests and approvals, real-time notifications, automatic loan policy creation and more. Use the loan services election form to take advantage of the electronic loan service at no additional cost.
  
  MAKE LOANS EASY
  
  Domestic abuse distributions available beginning in June
  
  Domestic abuse distributions, a new distribution type created by SECURE 2.0 Act, will be supported by RecordkeeperDirect beginning in June 2025. Existing plans can add this new distribution type with the Plan maintenance request.
  
  ADD NEW DISTRIBUTION TYPE
  
  New reporting enhancements coming soon
  
  The Reports & Analysis section on the plan sponsor website will be updated in June 2025, providing a more robust reporting experience. If you have any saved templates, they won’t carry over. Please take time now to document any templates you have.
  
  Catch-up contributions for high earners
  
  Beginning in 2026, catch-up contributions made by employees with FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) compensation greater than $145,000 (to be adjusted for inflation) in the prior year will be required to be made as Roth contributions, even if regular contributions are pre-tax.
  
  Plans that don’t already allow Roth contributions will need to add Roth elective deferrals as a contribution type (or remove catch-up contributions if you don’t want to offer Roth contributions).
  
  Watch for additional communication from us about this change and be sure to work with your third-party administrator (TPA) and payroll provider to be prepared.
  
  Help participants stay on track with their retirement goals
  
  You can help plan participants create a customized retirement savings plan by encouraging them to log in to the participant website and leverage our new Retirement goals tool.
  
  The Retirement goals tool will prompt participants to enter basic information about where they are today and the retirement they’d like to pursue. From there, the tool will show if they’re on track to reach their goals, signaling when adjustments may be needed.
  
  HELP PARTICIPANTS LOG IN
- PlanPremier®
  
  Transform PlanPremier plans with online enrollment
  
  Online enrollment and other key features can help plan sponsors save time and provide the best experience for participants. Watch for an invitation to join an upcoming webinar and learn how to activate online enrollment.
  
  SEE KEY FEATURES
  
  Expanded notice delivery
  
  We’ve expanded our Automated notice delivery service to include the Summary Annual Report (SAR) and Summary Plan Description (SPD)/Summary of Material Modifications (SMM).
  
  Learn how we automatically create your plan notices and deliver them to participants, helping plan sponsors fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities.
  
  Don’t forget to provide us with participant email addresses for free delivery. Plans can contact their Retirement plan coordinator to sign up or add new notice types.
  
  SIMPLIFY NOTICE DELIVERY
  
  Faster, easier hardship distributions available soon
  
  New options will be available soon, including elimination of collecting backup documentation and allowing participants to self-certify, to help ease administrative efforts for plan sponsors and process hardship distributions faster. Watch for more information coming soon.
  
  Catch-up contributions for high earners
  
  Beginning in 2026, catch-up contributions made by employees with FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) compensation greater than $145,000 (to be adjusted for inflation) in the prior year will be required to be made as Roth contributions, even if regular contributions are pre-tax.
  
  Plans that don’t already allow Roth contributions, will need to work with their third-party administrator (TPA) to add Roth elective deferrals as a contribution type (or remove catch-up contributions if you don’t want to offer Roth contributions).
  
  Watch for additional communication from us about this change and be sure to work with your payroll company to be prepared.
  
  Upcoming maintenance may affect PlanPremier accounts
  
  In the months ahead, PlanPremier plans may experience a short, temporary restriction that will prevent certain transaction requests, including investment allocation changes, requesting or approving loans and distributions, and submitting contributions.
  
  We’ll notify impacted plans of the maintenance ahead of time to minimize any inconveniences.
- SIMPLE IRA Plus
  
  ICanRetire® for SIMPLE IRA Plus
  
  Our fully automated, digital participant engagement program will soon be available for SIMPLE IRA Plus. ICanRetire is designed to help participants take control of their financial future and add value for plan sponsors.
  
  Eligible employees can benefit from targeted emails that encourage them to begin saving for retirement, increase contribution levels and more. They’ll also have access to a wealth of educational content that’s designed to be fun and approachable.
  
  ICanRetire is research-backed and behavior-focused to help enhance employee engagement at no additional cost.
  
  EXPLORE ICANRETIRE
  
  New reporting enhancements coming soon
  
  The Reports & Analysis section on the plan sponsor website will be updated in June 2025, providing a more robust reporting experience. If you have any saved templates, they won’t carry over. Please take time now to document any templates you have.
  
  Help participants stay on track with their retirement goals
  
  You can help plan participants create a customized retirement savings plan by encouraging them to log in to the participant website and leverage our new Retirement goals tool.
  
  The Retirement goals tool will prompt participants to enter basic information about where they are today and the retirement they’d like to pursue. From there, the tool will show if they’re on track to reach their goals, signaling when adjustments may be needed.
  
  HELP PARTICIPANTS LOG IN

New participant enrollment videos

Give employees an overview of the enrollment process and encourage them to start saving with these short how-to videos. The videos are available in both English and Spanish.

Watch: How to enroll in your workplace retirement plan

• RecordkeeperDirect (English)
• RecordkeeperDirect (Spanish)

Deliver effective retirement plan reviews

Annual reviews are an important opportunity to demonstrate your value and perform your due diligence. Use our guide and resources to prepare and help plan sponsors assess and improve their plans.

GET PREPARED

401(k) contribution limits for 2025

The annual employee contribution limit for 401(k) plans increased by $500 to $23,500. Participants aged 50-59 and 64+ can also make a catch-up contribution of $7,500. And participants aged 60 to 63 in 2025 can make a higher catch-up contribution of $11,250.

You can now verify lost participants online

To help protect plan participants, we now place a stop-mail indicator on their account if we receive returned mail.

When we place a stop-mail indicator on an account, we’ll notify the plan sponsor and/or third-party administrator by email. They can verify or update the participant’s address online.

New force-out distribution and automatic IRA rollover request form

A new form simplifies the process of requesting force-out cash distributions and/or automatic IRA rollovers for terminated participants in RecordkeeperDirect plans.

We recommend plan sponsors review their plan document and consult their third-party administrator prior to submitting this request to ensure the vesting information they provide is correct.

GET NEW FORM

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

The SECURE 2.0 Act marked a significant step toward enabling more small business owners and employees to pursue retirement stability. Get the latest updates on our recordkeeping support to help you take advantage of key SECURE 2.0 provisions.

CHECK STATUS

Take advantage of online enrollment

Are you and your employees still relying on paper forms to enroll or update contribution rates and beneficiaries? These activities can be streamlined through the participant website and app, potentially saving you time and reducing administrative issues. To enable online enrollment for your plan, submit the completed Online Enrollment Authorization form and Participant Data Supplement file.

Review the RecordkeeperDirect Online Enrollment Summary guide to learn more.

HOW IT WORKS

Increased catch-up contribution limit

Effective January 1, 2025, a provision of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 will increase the annual catch-up contribution limit for participants aged 60 to 63.

The increased limit will be the greater of $10,000 or 150% more than the regular catch-up limit in 2025 and indexed for inflation in following years. For plans that offer catch-up contributions, no action is needed for employees to take advantage of the increased limit. However, plan sponsors may need to work with their payroll providers to make sure they account for the new catch-up limit.

Check the status of our recordkeeping support for other key SECURE 2.0 provisions.

MORE SECURE 2.0

Make onboarding easy with Plan manager

Plan manager makes it easy to get RecordkeeperDirect clients up and running with a streamlined digital experience. Let our online tool guide you through the onboarding process — and leave the paper forms behind.

TAKE A LOOK

Help boost plan participation with auto enrollment

Most new retirement plans established on or after December 29, 2022, are required to automatically enroll employees and automatically escalate their contributions.* We’ve made it easy to offer these plan features and help more employees get started on their journey to retirement.

To learn more about auto enrollment and the services that we offer, check out the RecordkeeperDirect automatic enrollment overview.

Plan sponsors can enable these services by submitting the Auto Enrollment Services Election form and the Participant Data Supplement file.

* Exemptions apply for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, church and governmental plans, and companies that have been in existence for less than three years.

HOW IT WORKS

Fiduciary services from Mesirow

For clients who want to hire an independent fiduciary service provider, we can now facilitate billing for Mesirow’s services and provide access to ongoing Mesirow fiduciary service reporting via our plan sponsor website.

Fiduciary service providers are unaffiliated with Capital Group and are solely responsible for the services they provide. We don’t receive compensation in connection with any fiduciary provider’s services, nor do we endorse or recommend specific fiduciary service providers.

Annual reallocation of plan-level expense accounts discontinued

The IRS recently provided guidance clarifying the timing of when plan forfeitures must be used in qualified retirement plans. Given the additional time provided by the new guidance, we’ll no longer automatically reallocate funds in plan-level expense accounts to participant accounts on an annual basis.

Plan sponsors can still issue payments from the plan-expense account for plan expenses by submitting the Fee payment authorization form. To reallocate funds to participant accounts, please send instruction to RKDirect@capitalgroup.com.

Help participants save more with interactive tools

Inspire participants to save more by setting a personalized retirement goal. Our website makes it easy for participants to track their progress each time they log in ― and potentially make changes to improve their projected retirement outcome.

LEARN MORE

How to make plan notices easy

Help save time and money by streamlining the process for plan notices.

We can mail any plan notice that plan sponsors create and upload for $2.00 per mailed notice.

LEARN MORE

Our website addresses have changed

We’ve updated our retirement plan website addresses as shown below. In doing so, we hope to make it easier to do business with us, and more clearly communicate who we are and the products and services we offer. Please be sure to update your bookmarks.

Website

New address

RecordkeeperDirect

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/rkd

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/rkd

Third-party administrator

capitalgroup.com/tpa/rkd

PlanPremier

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier-Bundled

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier TPA

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremiertpa

SIMPLE IRA Plus

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/simpleiraplus

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/simpleiraplus

New participant enrollment videos

Give employees an overview of the enrollment process and encourage them to start saving with these short how-to videos. The videos are available in both English and Spanish.

Watch: How to enroll in your workplace retirement plan

• PlanPremier (English)
• PlanPremier (Spanish)

Deliver effective retirement plan reviews

Annual reviews are an important opportunity to demonstrate your value and perform your due diligence. Use our guide and resources to prepare and help plan sponsors assess and improve their plans.

GET PREPARED

Our payroll integration service has been expanded

We make it easy to connect with a broad range of payroll providers to help plan sponsors simplify contributions and protect sensitive information. Check out the payroll providers available through our network connections and additional providers through Payroll Integrations. In addition to 180 standard integration, we offer 360 payroll integration to further simplify the payroll process for plan sponsors.

Learn more about our payroll integration service and direct vendor connections:

• PlanPremier Payroll Provider Network Guide

401(k) contribution limits for 2025

Find out more about the contribution limits.

Simplify small balance distributions

Our automated mandatory distribution service makes handling the small balances that employees leave behind easier.

We’ll identify and notify impacted plan participants and process cash-out distributions as needed. And when participants are eligible for a rollover, we’ll roll their balance to an IRA at Inspira Financial, which now has a reduced annual administrative fee of $20 for new account holders.

Learn more about this time-saving service and how to get started.

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

CHECK STATUS

Make it easier to manage your retirement plan

From online enrollment to automatic email notifications, check out these key plan features that can help plan sponsors save time and improve the participant experience.

MAKE IT EASY

Increased catch-up contribution limit

Effective January 1, 2025, a provision of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 will increase the annual catch-up contribution limit for participants aged 60 to 63.

Check the status of our recordkeeping support for other key SECURE 2.0 provisions.

MORE SECURE 2.0

SECURE 2.0 Act plan amendments

We’re committed to supporting key SECURE 2.0 Act provisions and making it easy for your plan to comply with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements.

For plans that use our document services, we’ll provide a SECURE 2.0 amendment prior to the IRS extended deadline to adopt the amendment. The amendment will be extensive and include all mandatory provisions, plus any optional provisions adopted by the plan. The fee for this amendment will be $1,250 per plan, billed after the amendment is provided in late 2025 to mid-2026.

MORE SECURE 2.0

Fiduciary services from Mesirow

E-delivery changes for PlanPremier

We’re enhancing our electronic delivery services of required participant statements and other important plan notices. Currently, new participants who provide a work and/or personal email address receive an initial paper notification by mail that includes information about e-delivery, including how to opt for paper delivery.

Beginning in September, statements, confirmations and plan disclosure documents for new participants with a work email provided by the plan sponsor will be delivered to the work email while the participant is active in accordance with the “wired at work” method permitted by the Department of Labor (DOL).* As a result of this change, new participants will no longer need to receive an initial paper notification by mail which may enable documents to be delivered more quickly.

Note: This enhancement does not impact current participants nor participants who only provide a personal email address. Participants who have already opted for paper delivery will continue to receive documents by mail. Additionally, no changes will be applied to 403(b) plans or plans set up with paper delivery.

Optional automated notice delivery

If a plan uses our optional automated plan notice delivery service, please note that these services will include the same changes.

* To ensure delivery via the “wired at work” method satisfies DOL rules, the work email addresses provided should:

• Provide employees with the ability to access the email and links at any location where they are reasonably expected to perform their duties as an employee, and
• Be used as an integral part of their employee duties.

Help participants save more with interactive tools

LEARN MORE

How to make plan notices easy

Help save time and money by streamlining the process for plan notices.

We can automatically create a range of plan notices and deliver them via email, potentially reducing plan costs, or by mail for $2.50 per mailed notice. We can also mail any plan notice that plan sponsors create and upload for $2.00 per mailed notice.

LEARN MORE

Our website addresses have changed

Website

New address

RecordkeeperDirect

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/rkd

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/rkd

Third-party administrator

capitalgroup.com/tpa/rkd

PlanPremier

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier-Bundled

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier TPA

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremiertpa

SIMPLE IRA Plus

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/simpleiraplus

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/simpleiraplus

SIMPLE IRA contribution limits for 2025

The annual employee contribution limits for SIMPLE IRA plans are as follows:

For plans with 25 or fewer employees, maximum employee contributions are $17,600 with additional catch-up contributions* (age 50+) of up to $3,850.
For plans with 26+ employees, maximum employee contributions are $16,500 with additional catch-up contributions (age 50+) of up to $3,500.

These plans can qualify for the higher employee contribution limits of $17,600 (and $3,850 catch-up) by making higher mandatory employer matching contributions of 4% of compensation or nonelective contributions of 3%.

For employees aged 60 to 63 only, a higher catch-up contribution limit of $5,250 replaces the 50+ catch-up contribution limit.*

* If allowed by the plan. The 60-63 catch-up contribution limit is effective January 1, 2025.

ACH distributions now available

For greater convenience and security, ACH distributions are now available for participant distributions.

Participants can elect payment by ACH and input their checking or savings account information within the online distribution request process on the participant website. Electronic bank verification is then conducted through a third-party service provider as a fraud prevention measure.

For more information about online distributions and other website features, refer to our participant website demo.

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

CHECK STATUS

Help more clients take advantage of Roth employee deferrals

With the introduction of Roth employee deferrals for SIMPLE IRAs, plan sponsors can offer participants more ways to save for retirement.

To help you discuss this optional plan feature with your clients, consider using our Roth vs. pretax contributions brochure to highlight the potential benefits of each.

ROTH VS. PRETAX

Increased catch-up contribution limit

Effective January 1, 2025, a provision of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 will increase the annual catch-up contribution limit for participants aged 60 to 63.

The increased limit will be the greater of $5,000 or 150% more than the regular catch-up limit in 2025 and indexed for inflation in following years. For plans that offer catch-up contributions, no action is needed for employees to take advantage of the increased limit.

Check the status of our recordkeeping support for other key SECURE 2.0 provisions.

MORE SECURE 2.0

Online ACH distributions available soon for participants

Beginning in mid-November, SIMPLE IRA participants will have the option of receiving their distribution proceeds via ACH direct deposit to a checking or savings account. This feature — which requires no paperwork — will help participants request distributions with greater convenience and without the risk of having a check mailed to their address of record.

Help participants save more with interactive tools

LEARN MORE

New help center for participants

Our new help center is designed to enable participants to find answers to common questions and better manage their retirement accounts. Topics include how to update contribution rates, managing investment portfolios, requesting distributions and more.

CHECK IT OUT

Our website addresses have changed

Website

New address

RecordkeeperDirect

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/rkd

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/rkd

Third-party administrator

capitalgroup.com/tpa/rkd

PlanPremier

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier-Bundled

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremier

Plan sponsor/PartnerLink — PlanPremier TPA

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/planpremiertpa

SIMPLE IRA Plus

Participant

capitalgroup.com/participant/simpleiraplus

Plan sponsor

capitalgroup.com/sponsor/simpleiraplus

CONTACT US

Find your dedicated Capital Group representative

We’re committed to helping you win and retain more plans.

Investments are not FDIC-insured, nor are they deposits of or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity, so they may lose value.

Investors should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the mutual fund prospectuses and summary prospectuses, which can be obtained from a financial professional and should be read carefully before investing.

All Capital Group trademarks mentioned are owned by The Capital Group Companies, Inc., an affiliated company or fund. All other company and product names mentioned are the property of their respective companies.

Use of this website is intended for U.S. residents only. Use of this website and materials is also subject to approval by your home office.

Capital Client Group, Inc.

This content, developed by Capital Group, home of American Funds, should not be used as a primary basis for investment decisions and is not intended to serve as impartial investment or fiduciary advice.

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About Us

Get the latest updates for our retirement plan solutions.

More fund flexibility coming soon

Make retirement plan loans easier for plan sponsors and participants

Domestic abuse distributions available beginning in June

New reporting enhancements coming soon

Catch-up contributions for high earners

Help participants stay on track with their retirement goals

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

Fiduciary services from Mesirow

Annual reallocation of plan-level expense accounts discontinued

Help participants save more with interactive tools

How to make plan notices easy

Our website addresses have changed

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

Fiduciary services from Mesirow

E-delivery changes for PlanPremier

* To ensure delivery via the “wired at work” method satisfies DOL rules, the work email addresses provided should:

• Provide employees with the ability to access the email and links at any location where they are reasonably expected to perform their duties as an employee, and • Be used as an integral part of their employee duties.

Help participants save more with interactive tools

How to make plan notices easy

Our website addresses have changed

Get the latest SECURE 2.0 Act provisions updates

Help participants save more with interactive tools

New help center for participants

Our website addresses have changed

CONTACT US

Find your dedicated Capital Group representative

We’re committed to helping you win and retain more plans.

Capital Ideas Pro™:Access to special events, courses and consulting to help you grow.

• Provide employees with the ability to access the email and links at any location where they are reasonably expected to perform their duties as an employee, and
• Be used as an integral part of their employee duties.