The Internal Revenue Service has added a tax reporting code on Form 1099-R for qualified charitable distributions — a welcome change, according to Ed Slott of Ed Slott & Co.
But Slott cautions that racing to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA when the market tanks can be tricky. “You can’t time it,” he said.
“I have heard stories already from people who said, ‘Oh, the market was down 2,000 and the next day it was down a thousand, so I’m going to convert now.’ And by the time the order was processed, it was up 3,000.”
His advice: Do a series of smaller annual conversions over time, or even monthly and keep in mind that Roth conversions are permanent. “There are no backies, no do-overs. This has got to be a planned event,” he said.
While House Republican lawmakers approved a Senate-passed budget outline, “the details still need to be ironed out,” according to Ed Slott of Ed Slott & Co., and the “actual tax and spending provisions are as yet unknown.” But generous gift and estate tax exclusions as well as standard deductions would likely continue, Slott said.
Ed Slott, a Rockville Centre-based financial and retirement adviser, said while Thursday’s drop is a “massive hit for one day,” now is not the time to divest or sell.
“The thing to do is nothing,” Slott said. “You don’t lose unless you sell. Nobody should be selling or running out of the market.”
Industry veterans Ed Slott and Ric Edelman are counseling advisors and their clients to stay the course after markets plunged Thursday on news that President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of at least 10% on all imports.
“On days like this — and [Thursday’s] may be a record decline — it’s best to do nothing,” Slott of Ed Slott & Co., told ThinkAdvisor in an email.
Tax-free income in retirement isn’t the Roth account’s sole selling point.
The tax and retirement planning expert shares what you need to know about the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs, which kicks in for 2025.
If you think saving for retirement is complicated, try figuring out how to withdraw retirement funds while minimizing taxes.
“As much as 70 percent of your hard-earned retirement funds can be eaten up by income, estate and state taxes,” says IRA guru Ed Slott, author of the retirement-planning books “Fund Your Future: A Tax-Smart Savings Plan in Your 20s and 30s” and “The Retirement Savings Time Bomb Ticks Louder.”
In the wake of the SECURE Act, traditional IRAs have become the worst possible asset to own, IRA expert Ed Slott told advisors attending The American College’s Horizons conference in San Diego on Tuesday.
Slott and another widely regarded accounting expert, Jeff Levine, opened the event with a brief session entitled, “The Great Debate: Is The Traditional IRA Dead?,” with Slott arguing that that the primary asset accumulation vehicle for millions of Americans was a rotten investment.
Ed Slott & Company Director of Retirement Education Sarah Brenner joins Wealth to share the top considerations for those preparing to retire.
