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Summer is almost here, as the unofficial start to the summer season begins with Memorial Day weekend. To celebrate, we open some IRA, tax and retirement planning mail and answer several of your most pressing questions. This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks at some intricate IRA issues along with a question about the provisions in the new tax law.

There are a number of excuses, more formally known as exceptions, that you can use to get out of the 10% penalty and lessen your tax burden. One such exception is for disability. Below, we discuss five important facts you need to know about this exception if you plan on trying to use it to avoid the 10% penalty.

In order to make an IRA contribution, you must be younger than age 70 1/2 for the year and also have wages or compensation from your job. Once you make your IRA contribution, then you have to figure out whether it's tax deductible or not.

The sequester is coming! The sequester is coming! That is all you heard in February and March. What does that mean for you?

This week's Slott Report Mailbag discusses Roth IRA contributions, conversions and the availability of certain employer-sponsored retirement plans. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Expert.

Tradition has it that when a man and a woman get married, the woman typically takes the last name of her husband. Although today, many choose to modify this tradition, perhaps by hyphenating their maiden name with their husband’s surname, or do away with it altogether and keep their own name, there are still many who keep this tradition alive.

Most of us have loans of some sort, whether it's a mortgage on our home, a car loan, student loan, etc. Or maybe you're thinking about applying for a new loan. In order to get the loan, the bank or other lending institution might require you to have some collateral or pledge some assets as security for the loan. However, if you have an IRA, you can’t use it as collateral for any personal loans.

Two individuals wanted to purchase a business together. They set up self-directed IRAs and a corporation to hold the business. The self-directed IRAs purchased the shares of the new company, which then purchased an ongoing business. The purchase of the business was partly funded with loans that were personally guaranteed by the two individuals.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag talks about Roth IRA conversions, how they are taxed and whether President Obama's budget proposals would cap Roth IRAs.

The IRA distribution tables can be confounding to the average retiree. What table should I be using? How do I calculate my RMD (required minimum distribution)? We look at several different scenarios and provide the facts and common misconceptions involving the IRA distribution tables.