By Aly J. YaleAfter a three-year reprieve, federal student loan payments resumed in October for more than 40 million Americans. In fact, in a recent survey 22% of student loan borrowers said they would need to reduce their retirement savings to make room for their renewed payments. Thanks to a provision in the Secure 2.0 Act, legislation aimed at improving retirement benefits nationwide, in 2024 employers will be able to start counting student loan payments as qualifying contributions toward retirement matching programs. That means if your employer offers to match your 401(k) contributions, you could get that matched money without ever depositing funds in your retirement account. However, if staying on top of your student loan payments has stopped you from leveraging your employer’s matching program—or contributing to your retirement account entirely—a student loan matching benefit can help you start saving.

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Persons: Aly J, ”, Joelle, Jesse Moore, Sara Vipond, Mercer, ” Vipond, —, You’ll Organizations: Yale, Financial, Fidelity Investments, “, Treasury Department, Secure Locations: Framingham, Mass