Sponsors (2)
This bill increases retirement-saving access for family caregivers by allowing larger, caregiver-specific catch-up contributions and simplifying plan administration, but it narrows eligibility, creates some risk of improper claims under self-certification, and modestly reduces federal revenue.
Family caregivers (e.g., parents and people who provided unpaid care to relatives or people with disabilities) can make larger retirement 'catch-up' contributions and get parity with older savers, increasing their retirement savings and access to tax-advantaged retirement building.
Allowing retirement plans to rely on participant self-certification of caregiving history reduces administrative burden and speeds caregivers' access to the catch-up benefit.
Limiting eligibility to at most five taxable years and to those who worked fewer than 500 paid hours can leave long-term or higher-hour caregivers ineligible, creating uneven access to benefits.
Permitting self-certification creates a risk of misuse or erroneous claims, which could lead to improper catch-up contributions, compliance costs for plan sponsors, and additional IRS audits or enforcement actions.
Expanding tax-preferred contribution limits for caregivers will modestly reduce federal tax revenue over time.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows eligible family caregivers meeting a caregiving-hours test to make larger catch-up contributions to workplace retirement plans and IRAs, with limits and a lifetime cap.
Introduced April 14, 2026 by Brittany Pettersen · Last progress April 14, 2026
Allows people who provide a defined amount of unpaid family care to make larger ‘‘catch-up’’ contributions to workplace retirement plans and IRAs. It creates a new qualified-caregiver category, sets a 500-hour annual caregiving test and limits (including a paid-work cap and a lifetime maximum of up to five taxable years), permits plans to accept self-certification, and treats eligible caregivers the same as participants aged 60–63 for the higher catch-up dollar amount; changes apply to tax years beginning after Dec 31, 2026.