Legislation introduced in 2020 and then expanded and codified earlier this year has strengthened access to qualified retirement savings plans for businesses and employees. It has also complicated the use of such plans as part of an estate planning strategy.

In this piece, we provide an overview of the relevant legislative actions and regulations, implications for both plan participants and their beneficiaries, and strategies to adjust to these changes in an optimal manner.

Legislation introduced in 2020 and then expanded and codified earlier this year has strengthened access to qualified retirement savings plans for businesses and employees. It has also complicated the use of such plans as part of an estate planning strategy.

Below we provide a high-level summary of the relevant legislative actions and regulations, implications for both plan participants and their beneficiaries, and strategies to adjust to these changes in an optimal manner. We discuss each of these topics in more depth in our note, available here.

As we approach the midpoint of the year, uncertainty has rattled the markets and much has changed in a short six months. From a business cycle perspective, we are either in a mid-cycle slowdown digesting the normalization of interest rates, or we are approaching a contraction in economic activity. Our market cycle dashboards remain in positive territory, but we are closely monitoring trends and probabilities that might cause them to turn bearish. So much uncertainty persists that one must carefully weigh the probabilities of each outcome. Given the datapoints we received from the Fed this week, we are re-underwriting our Stress Test Scenarios to be able to explain better the potential outcomes from here and to determine appropriate portfolio positioning and action. You should expect to hear from your advisor with more details in the coming weeks.