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It's tax time - and we've covered a lot of key planning issues during our Tax Planning Week. Here are some responses to other key IRA questions that come up a lot at tax time.

Last Wednesday at The Slott Report, we released our analysis of the retirement provisions in the President’s 2015 fiscal year budget, breaking the news that, as part of that budget, Roth IRA owners would have RMDs during their lifetimes. Since that time, we’ve been hit with emails, calls and other inquiries about what, if anything, makes sense to do in light of that proposal. We give you our analysis below.

If you own a business and currently don’t have a company retirement plan, consider opening a SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) for 2013 (that's not a misprint in dates). A SEP is a relatively uncomplicated employer retirement plan that uses an IRA as its funding vehicle. Click to find out why business owners should consider a SEP IRA for 2013.

It's never too late (or early) to get started on your 2014 retirement planning. There are certain building blocks that Ed Slott, America's IRA Expert, believes are the foundational keys to a successful long-term retirement plan. He goes through them in considerable detail in the IRAtv video below (click here to watch in browser), and here's a quick-hitting list of the key building blocks.

Interesting things are happening in the courts with regard to retirement plans, specifically 60-day IRA rollovers and inherited IRAs in bankruptcy. Click for an update on what's happening.

Are the rules different for 401(k) and IRA distributions in the year you turn age 70 1/2? We answer that questions and two others in this week's Slott Report Mailbag.

Yesterday, President Obama unveiled his Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. As has been the case with previous budgets, this year’s version includes a number of proposed changes aimed at retirement accounts. Six out of the 7 provisions detailed below, or similar versions of them, were included in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget last year.

Let's say that your employer's 401(k) plan allows you to take a loan against part of your 401(k) balance (generally the smaller of half of your vested balance or $50,000). You decided to take a loan and you’ve been repaying it by having it taken out of your paycheck. But now, you no longer work for that employer. Perhaps you retired, or voluntarily switched jobs, or maybe you were laid off. We explain how to navigate this scenario.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks at IRA beneficiary language and procedures as well as Roth conversions and recharacterizations, a topic we cover heavily in Ed Slott's 2014 Retirement Decisions Guide. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Expert.

When it comes to estate planning, one of the primary goals is to transfer as much of a person's assets to their intended beneficiaries at the lowest cost or, in other words, by paying the least amount of tax. Today, the federal estate tax exemption is $5,340,000 per person. It is also portable (can be transferred) between spouses, giving them a maximum exemption of $10,680,000 per couple and the maximum rate is 40%. That is a far cry from where we’ve been.