Watch for Retirement Plan Summary of Material Modifications Starting June 15

If your cooperative offers either the 401(k) Pension Plan or the Retirement Security (RS) Plan, starting on June 15 you will receive a Message Center alert directing you to a summary of material modifications (SMM) for each plan you offer.

Give the SMM to participants and beneficiaries in the plan(s) on or before July 29, 2026. Also give a copy to future new hires along with the summary plan description (SPD) until your co-op receives a new SPD. A new SPD is produced either when you change your plan elections or when the plan is restated, whichever occurs first. The 401(k) Plan and RS Plan will both be restated in July 2027.

The 401(k) Pension Plan SMM explains that:

• The minimum account balance required for a former participant to make an eligible rollover distribution into the plan has been reduced from $5,000 to $1,000;
• A rule added by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 requires certain participants older than age 50 to make catch-up contributions only as Roth (after-tax). Details on this change appeared in the November 2025 issue of Benefits Focus.

The Retirement Security Plan SMM and 401(k) Plan SMM explain a change to how default beneficiaries are handled in the case of a participant’s divorce.

Distribution and acknowledgement instructions
Review the distribution guidelines on the Employee Benefits website before choosing a distribution method. Remember to acknowledge distributing the SMMs as the final step of your distribution process. 

Questions
If you have questions about downloading and distributing these SMMs, call the Member Contact Center at 866.673.2299 or email contactcenter@nreca.coop. For all other questions about this SMM, contact the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or pension.compliance@nreca.coop.