@HImom – yes, you are correct. IRAs and Roths inherited prior to 12/31/19 will continue to follow the life expectancy RMD schedule.
Apparently that schedule will be updated some time next year.\
The Stretch provision has not been eliminated for spousal IRAs, only for inherited IRAs. There are another few exceptions (disabled beneficiary is one of the exceptions…can’t recall the others).
I’m glad they’re finally updating the RMD schedules—terrible to be poor and old and allowing folks to stretch it out over their longer lives makes sense to me.
On the other hand, since The vast majority take more than their RMDs, no idea how much it will actually do for folks.
As far as I know, ALL the provisions in the Act will be effective in 2020. Nothing is changed for 2019.
Right now, we are expecting the President to sign, but until he does nothing will be written into the law.
@RichInPitt. There must be another thread I am on that I commented on yesterday about this but… We have 529s for our kids but not for all 4 years. The first 2 years we had them take out some loans and we paid the rest out of current income, since we didn’t know what the future would hold. We are self employed. Then the kids got merit and grant money we were not expecting and then my daughter switched schools and her merit went up another like $12, 000/year to a $30,000 merit. Not complaining at all but we will have a surplus with her graduating this year. She “might” do graduate school not next fall but the year after. But… I think it would be nice to pay down the amount she took out now. Same for my son. We are reaching out to our accountant and broker to get their view on it as we educate ourselves a bit.
The schedules are only being bumped ~2 years for longevity, so the RMD’s won’t change by much.
And, as you note, many/most? folks take down more than their RMD’s anyway, so they are unaffected.
Didn’t Trump sign this Friday night around 10pm?
The two changes I know of off the top of my head are the medical itemization deductibility threshold and the Kiddie Tax. Medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of AGI may be deducted for 2019 & 2020. No mention of 2021.
Kiddie tax: Note that you will have the option to amend your 2018 taxes in order to claim a refund of excess taxes paid. Families can elect to use old Kiddie Tax rates or Estate Tax rates for 2018 & 2019, but the old Kiddie Tax rates will apply starting with 2020 tax year.
Here is an article that addresses the Kiddie Tax change: Note that you will have the option to amend your 2018 taxes in order to claim a refund of excess taxes paid. Families can elect to use old Kiddie Tax rates or Estate Tax rates for 2018 & 2019, but the old Kiddie Tax rates will apply starting with 2020 tax year.
Oops…too late to edit the prior post.
I didn’t pay attention and pasted the same comment twice instead of the URL I had meant to post:
Another SECURE Act provision : up to $5k penalty-free IRA distribution for a qualified birth or adoption.
@VeryHappy I can see how a loan might be taken with a 529 balance.
Say the first child gets accepted to college. Parents might ask that this kid take the federally funded student loan…maybe to help parent tax flow…or maybe because they have a second…or third kid in who will be heading to college in the future.
But if that second kid gets a great merit award, they might not need as much 529 money…and 529 money can (usually) be moved in terms of the beneficiary.
So…at the end, there could be money left in the 529 because subsequent kid(s) didn’t use as much 529 as thought. So…the first kid could use $10,000 towards their loan pay off.
@thumper1. Pretty much our situation
@thumper1 — In states that offer a deduction against state income for 529 contributions, I believe some people will ‘run’ the loan repayment money through the 529 account in order to save the amount of the state tax credit.
That tax credit would have to be more than the interest, and charges to take out the loan to make that worth doing.
@thumper1 – I think, but am not 100% certain, that the people planning to do this are the recent grads paying off their own loans. They will open a 529 naming self as beneficiary, funnel the money through the 529 in order to claim the state tax break, and immediately pay off the loan. However, student loan interest deduction may be lost if paid this way, as new law prohibits double-dipping.
Lots of variables here ranging from amount of state tax credit to tax filing status of recent grad. This new benefit is capped at $10K.
This is being discussed on another site. Am I allowed to link to other sites here?
As long as it is not a blog. Or another forum! Best is to tell the crowd the keywords to find the site. 
Ah, then just search Secure Act- 529 Plans and hopefully the correct site will appear.
Is this for new inherited IRAs or will this take effect for those of us who currently have them?
^^ Just for new inherited IRAs.
@thumper1 — For deaths after 12/31/19, for inherited Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. Anyone who has an existing inherited IRA will continue to follow the existing RMD schedule, although the life expectancy charts are being updated to basically add two years.
Here is a very helpful explanation of the few types of beneficiaries who will retain the Stretch provision:
Notably, while the new general rule under the SECURE Act will be the 10-Year Rule, there are four groups of designated beneficiaries to which the new 10-Year Rule will not apply.
These beneficiaries, referred to as “Eligible Designated Beneficiaries”, are:
Spousal beneficiaries;
Disabled (as defined by IRC Section 72(m)(7)) beneficiaries;
Chronically ill (as defined by IRC Section 7702B©(2), with limited exception) beneficiaries;
Individuals who are not more than 10 years younger than the decedent
Certain minor children (of the original retirement account owner), but only until they reach the age of majority.
For these Eligible Designated Beneficiaries, it’s ‘business as usual’ – the same rules that applied to them before the SECURE Act will continue to apply after the SECURE Act. They can take distributions over the beneficiary’s life expectancy (and spousal beneficiaries may still engage in a spousal rollover as well). As a result, the ‘Stretch’ isn’t truly ‘dead’, but it will only live on via a small percentage of post-2019 beneficiaries.
In the case of the “Special Rule for Minor Children”, though, the Eligible Designated Beneficiary category is only a limited reprieve, as such minor children will be able to take age-based requirement minimum distributions… until they reach the age of majority, and then the 10-year rule still ‘kicks in’.
It is important to emphasize that the Special Rule for Minor Children applies only to the “child of the employee [or IRA owner] who has not reached majority”. As such, minor children would appear to be ineligible for similar treatment if a retirement account was inherited from a non-parent, such as a grandparent.