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Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to minimum participation standards for pension plans and qualified trusts.
Summary
This bill amends retirement plan eligibility requirements to lower the minimum age for pension plan participation from 21 to 18 years old. Employees aged 18 to 20 can now participate in employer-sponsored pension plans and 401(k) plans, either immediately at age 18 or through an alternative requirement of having at least 500 hours of service in two consecutive 12-month periods. The bill makes conforming changes to both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. The changes apply to retirement plans with plan years beginning one year after the bill's enactment, allowing young workers earlier access to employer retirement savings programs.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
8 cosponsors
- Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK)
- Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1] (R-MI)
- Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL)
- Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19] (R-FL)
- Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large] (D-DE)
- Rep. Moore, Blake D. [R-UT-1] (R-UT)
- Rep. Moore, Tim [R-NC-14] (R-NC)
- Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6] (R-OH)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Brittany Pettersen’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $30,671
- COINBASE $18,000
- ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ $13,200
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $13,000
- SOLANA LABS $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Brittany Pettersen → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 23, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2025
Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Mr. Rulli) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to minimum participation standards for pension plans and qualified trusts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act”.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY AT AGE 18 UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
(a) ERISA.—
(1) Age 18.—Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 202(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1052(c)(1)) are amended to read as follows:
“(A) the period permitted under subsection (a)(1), determined—
“(i) without regard to subparagraph (B)(i) thereof; and
“(ii) by substituting ‘18’ for ‘21’ in subparagraph (A)(i) thereof; or
“(B) the first 24-month period—
“(i) consisting of 2 consecutive 12-month periods during each of which the employee has at least 500 hours of service; and
“(ii) by the close of which the employee has met the requirement of subsection
(a)(1)(A)(i) (without regard to subparagraph
(A)(ii) of this paragraph).”.
(2) Conforming amendments.—Section 202(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1052(c)) is amended—
(A) in the subsection heading—
(i) by striking “Special Rule” and inserting “Special Rules”; and
(ii) by adding “and Certain Younger Employees” after “Employees”; and
(B) in paragraph (3)—
(i) by striking “paragraph (1)(B)” and inserting “paragraph (1)”; and
(ii) by striking “section 401(k)(2)(D)(ii)” and inserting “section 401(k)(2)(D)”.
(3) Opinion of independent qualified public accountant.— Section 104(a)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1024(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A) and the last sentence of section 103(a)(3)(A), with respect to a pension plan in which at least one employee participates solely by reason of section 202(c)(1)(A), no employee participating in such plan solely by reason of section 202(c)(1)(A) shall be counted as a participant until the date that is 5 years after the date on which the first such employee first becomes a participant in such plan.”.
(b) Internal Revenue Code of 1986.—
(1) Age 18.—Clauses (i) and (ii) of section 401(k)(2)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are amended to read as follows:
“(i) the period permitted under section 410(a)(1), determined—
“(I) without regard to subparagraph (B)(i) thereof, and
“(II) by substituting ‘18’ for ‘21’ in subparagraph (A)(i) thereof, or
“(ii) subject to the provisions of paragraph (15), the first of 2 consecutive 12- month periods during each of which the employee has at least 500 hours of service, provided that the employee has satisfied the requirements of section 410(a)(1)(A)(i) (without regard to clause (i)(II) of this subparagraph).”.
(2) Conforming amendments.—The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
(A) in section 401(k)(15)—
(i) in the paragraph heading, by adding “and certain younger workers” after “workers”; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B)—
(I) in clauses (i) and (ii), by striking “(2)(D)(ii)” each place it appears and inserting “(2)(D)”;
(II) in clause (i), by striking “202(c)(1)(B)” and inserting “202(c)(1)”; and
(III) in clause (iv), striking “paragraph (2)(D)(ii)” and inserting “clauses (i)(II) and (ii) of paragraph
(2)(D)”; and
(B) in section 403(b)(12)—
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking “section 202(c)” and inserting “section 202(c)(1)(B)”; and
(ii) in subparagraph (D)—
(I) in the subparagraph heading, by inserting “and certain younger employees” after “employees”; and
(II) in clause (i), by striking “202(c)(1)(B)” and adding “202(c)(1)”.
(c) Application.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to plan years beginning on or after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>
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