# 119-hr-4718: Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act

119-hr-4718, Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7] (D-CO); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-08).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4718
- As of: 2026-10-08
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-4718
- Congress: 119
- Title: Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-07-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7] (D-CO)
- Cosponsors: 10
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-08

## Summary

**Expand retirement-plan eligibility to age 18.** This bill would let younger employees join employer pension and 401(k) plans either by meeting a revised age test at 18 or by completing two consecutive 12-month periods with at least 500 hours of service. It would also align Employee Retirement Income Security Act and tax-code language and add an accounting rule for participant counts.

## Cosponsors (10)

- Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50] (D-CA), 2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6] (R-OH), 2025-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1] (R-MI), 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19] (R-FL), 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL), 2026-06-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large] (D-DE), 2026-06-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Blake D. [R-UT-1] (R-UT), 2026-06-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Tim [R-NC-14] (R-NC), 2026-07-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mannion, John W. [D-NY-22] (D-NY), 2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Earlier 401(k) access at age 18: benefit, medium. If enacted, workers could join employer retirement plans at age 18. You could also qualify after two back‑to‑back 12‑month periods with at least 500 hours each. This would apply to 401(k)s and other employer pension plans. Plans would start using these rules in plan years that begin one year after…
- Five-year delay counting young participants: benefit, low. If enacted, plans would not count employees who join only because of the new age‑18 rule for five years. The five‑year clock would start when the first such employee becomes a participant. This could ease audit and compliance work for plan sponsors. It would apply in plan years that begin one year…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5401: Pay Our Troops Act of 2026
- 119-hr-1151: Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-4718 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4718)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422)
- [119-hr-5401: Pay Our Troops Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5401)
- [119-hr-1151: Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1151)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4718 (as of 2026-10-08).