What Is A Qualified Retirement Plan? 
A qualified plan is generally a government sanctioned retirement plan that offers some type of tax advantages . Under ERISA , the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 , defined contribution plans have become very popular , especially employer sponsored 40 -LRB- k -RRB- s . The pretax contributions accumulate tax deferred and can accumulate tax deferred until age 70 1/2 when mandatory minimum distributions are generated . 