Get the latest updates for your company’s retirement plan.
RecordkeeperDirect®
Name changes for American Funds Target Date Retirement Series® funds
We’ve updated the names of four of the vintages in the American Funds Target Date Retirement Series to reflect the funds’ focus on income after reaching the retirement target date. The change impacts the following funds:
• American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund® is now the American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Income Fund
• American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund® is now the American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Income Fund
• American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund® is now the American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Income Fund
• American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund® is now the American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Income Fund
The name change does not affect the investments in any other way, including the fund objectives, strategies, portfolios and management. Going forward, we will continue to add “Income” to the target date fund names after each fund’s target date is reached.
Review our Spanish-language resources for participants
Stay up to date on the Spanish-language services we offer to help participants. This overview sheet has a handy list of the many documents and other resources available, from enrollment books for eligible employees to live customer service, educational brochures and more.
Higher contribution limits for 2026 released
The IRS recently released new contribution limits for 2026, raising the limits across most plan types.
The annual employee contribution limits for 401(k) and 403(b) plans for 2026 are as follows:
• For participants, the maximum salary deferral is $24,500.
• Total combined contributions from employee and employer combined are limited to the lesser of 100% of pay or $72,000.
• Participants age 50 to 59 and 64+ can make additional catch-up contributions* above the maximums of up to $8,000. For employees aged 60 to 63 only,† a higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 replaces the 50+ catch-up contribution limit.
With the new contribution limits, you can help participants create a customized retirement savings plan by encouraging them to log in to the participant website and leverage our Retirement goals tool.
Footnotes/Important information:
* If allowed by the plan.
† The higher catch-up limit is only applicable to participants who attain ages 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026.
Check out our new RecordkeeperDirect participant site demo
Tour the RecordkeeperDirect participant website with our new, interactive demo. The demo allows you to experience how participants can use the site for everything from account management to changing their contributions and investments to setting retirement goals. To get started, use the button below and click Log In to enter the site.
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. With our electronic plan loan service, available at no additional cost, plans can take advantage of online loan requests and approvals, real-time notifications, automatic loan policy creation and more.
Use the loan services election form to enable the electronic loan service.
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.
Add investment options from other fund managers
Existing RecordkeeperDirect plan sponsors can now add investment options from other fund managers for a low fee. It’s the same recordkeeping experience you know, with the benefit of expanded fund flexibility to help participants pursue their retirement savings goals. Complete the Change of funds or share class form to get started.
Prepare for important year-end deadlines
As the plan year ends, there are several deadlines and potential action items that plan sponsors should be aware of. These include year-end notices and disclosures, mandatory distributions, required minimum distribution reminders, and more.
Refer to the Plan disclosure checklist to help you meet these year-end retirement plan obligations.
Be prepared for the new SECURE 2.0 Roth catch-up rule
Starting January 1, 2026, catch-up contributions for participants who earned more than $150,000 (indexed annually) in Social Security FICA wages in the prior calendar year must be made as Roth contributions.
Plans that don’t allow Roth contributions should consider adding Roth elective deferrals as a contribution type. If a plan does not offer Roth contributions, higher-paid participants subject to the Roth catch-up requirement will not be able to make catch-up contributions. If you don’t want to offer Roth contributions, you may also remove the option to make catch-up contributions.
We encourage you to work with your payroll provider now to ensure catch-up contributions for higher-paid participants are directed appropriately. For plans that automatically switch catch-up contributions from pretax to Roth when a participant is subject to the Roth catch-up requirement, the sponsor/payroll provider is responsible for changing impacted participants’ deferrals from pretax to Roth. For plans that don’t have a Roth source, sponsor/payroll providers are responsible for stopping impacted participants’ deferrals when the applicable deferral limit is reached.
We can help you comply with this requirement by collecting a new high-earner indicator on our system that identifies participants who are subject to the Roth catch-up requirement. The indicator will drive reports with relevant data to assist with contribution processing and identifying any participants that may require corrections.
Watch for more details soon, including information on how to add the high-earner indicator to the recordkeeping system.
Introducing the Save-o-meter on ICanRetire®
The Save-o-meter is a new tool available on the ICanRetire homepage that’s designed to help participants maximize their company match. Now, participants can better see if they’re leaving free money on the table.
We’ve also refreshed the existing planning calculator to include an option for employer matching. If matching isn’t available, participants can enter 0%.
Both tools are available on the ICanRetire homepage.
Take advantage of time-saving plan features
Signing up for eligibility tracking, online enrollment, automatic enrollment and beneficiary tracking can simplify the process of offering a retirement plan.
If your plan is already taking advantage of these features, you’ll likely have more participants using these options as we are nearing the end of the year.
And if you haven’t signed up yet, keep a lookout for upcoming webinar invitations where you can learn more about these time-saving features. You may also contact us if you’re unable to attend a webinar.
For more information, call us at (800) 421-6019.