​Last month, I spent three day in Kansas City learning about retirement plans.

I know this doesn't create a lot of "wow" factor for most, but I felt honored as I sat the feet of some of the insurance industry's greatest leaders. Ron Essary (pictured above) is one of the masterminds of annuities. He is sought after by insurance carriers to create retirement plans that will provide bonuses, life-time income, safety from the market, doubling factors (should the client get sick), etc. He is often referred to as the mad scientist of the annuity world and I feel a little smarter for being taught by him.

The good news for you, is that I came back with information that YOU should know about. The American retirement atmosphere has had some significant changes. I've listed a few below.

SECURE 2.0 legislation, a follow up to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, was passed as part of an omnibus appropriations bill on Dec. 29, 2022. This new wave of retirement reform is designed to help more Americans reach retirement with more savings. The following summary can help you get up to speed and modify plans to better secure your future.

RMD Age Raised
The age for taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) increased from 72 to 73 on Jan. 1, 2023. Anyone who has already begun taking RMDs from 401(k) plans or traditional IRAs must continue doing so. The RMD age will rise to 75 in 2033.

Emergency Withdrawal Opportunities
New rules allow one annual distribution of up to $1,000 from a retirement account without penalty. Larger withdrawals may be made for terminal illness, natural disasters, long-term care or other specific financial emergencies.

Catch-Up Contributions Increased
Clients aged 60-63 can add the greater of $10,000 ($5,000 for SIMPLE Plans) or 150% of the current regular catch-up contribution in 2025. The increased amounts are indexed for inflation after 2025.

529 Plan Changes
Effective in 2024, beneficiaries can roll over up to $35,000 from a 529 plan to their Roth IRA, subject to Roth IRA annual contribution limits assuming the 529 account has been open for 15+ years.

“Rothification” Trends
In 2024, Roth assets in an employer-sponsored plan will be exempt from lifetime RMDs. SEP and SIMPLE plans can allow Roth contributions beginning in 2023.

Student Loan Match
Starting in 2024, employers will be able to count student loan payments as plan contributions eligible for the employer match in a retirement account.

Expanded Auto-Enrollment
Beginning in 2025, employers are required to auto-enroll eligible employees to the new 401(k) or 403(b) plans. Long-term, part-time workers will also be allowed to participate in such employer plans.

Front Range Insurance Solutions offers a variety of safe-money retirement plans. Please reach out if you'd like to know more.

​Perusing the search engine results for “allowance for kids” reveals something telling: The top results can’t seem to agree with each other.

Some finance articles quote experts or outspoken parents hailing an allowance, stating it teaches kids financial responsibility. Others argue that simply awarding an allowance (whether in exchange for doing chores around the house or not) instills nothing in children about managing money. They say that having an honest conversation about money and finances with your kids is a better solution.

According to a poll, the average allowance for kids age 4 to 14 is just under $9 per week, about $450 per year. By age 14, the average allowance is over $12 per week. Some studies indicate that, in most cases, very little of a child’s allowance is saved. As parents, we may not have needed a study to figure that one out – but if your child is consistently out of money by Wednesday, how do you help them learn the lesson of saving so they don’t always end up “broke” (and potentially asking you for more money at the end of the week)?

There’s an app for that.
Part of the modern challenge in teaching kids about money is that cash isn’t king anymore. Today, we use credit and debit cards for the majority of our spending – and there is an ever-increasing movement toward online shopping and making payments with your phone using apps like Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay.

This is great for the way we live our modern, fast-paced lives, but what if technology could help us teach more complex financial concepts than a simple allowance can – concepts like how compound interest on savings works or what interest costs for debt look like? As it happens, a new breed of personal finance apps for families promises this kind of functionality.

FamZoo is popular, offering prepaid cards with a matching family finance app for iOS and Android. Prepaid cards are a dime a dozen but FamZoo’s card and app do much more than just limit spending to the prepaid amount. Kids can earn interest on their savings (funded by parents), set budgets according to categories, monitor their account activity with useful charts, and even borrow money – complete with an interest charge. Sounds a bit like the real world, doesn’t it? FamZoo can be as simple or as feature-packed as you’d like, making it a good match for kids of any age.

Money habits are formed as early as age 7. If an allowance can teach kids about saving, compound interest, loan interest, and budgeting – with a little help from technology – perhaps the future holds a digital world where the two sides of the allowance debate can finally agree. As to whether your kids’ allowance should be paid upon completion of chores or not… Well, that’s up to you and how long your Saturday to-do list is!

Perusing the search engine results for “allowance for kids” reveals something telling: The top results can’t seem to agree with each other.Some finance articles quote experts or outspoken parents hailing an allowance, stating it teaches kids financial responsibility. Others argue that simply awarding an allowance (whether in exchange for doing chores around the house or not) instills nothing in children about managing money. They say that having an honest conversation about money and finances with your kids is a better solution.

According to a poll, the average allowance for kids age 4 to 14 is just under $9 per week, about $450 per year. By age 14, the average allowance is over $12 per week. Some studies indicate that, in most cases, very little of a child’s allowance is saved. As parents, we may not have needed a study to figure that one out – but if your child is consistently out of money by Wednesday, how do you help them learn the lesson of saving so they don’t always end up “broke” (and potentially asking you for more money at the end of the week)?