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IRAs have beneficiaries and "designated beneficiaries," and it is important to know the difference. If you wish your heirs to have the opportunity to take full advantage of "stretch" IRAs, and to avoid other possibly costly mistakes, be sure your heirs are designated beneficiaries.

Both my husband and I turn 70 this year but only one of us has a required minimum distribution (RMD) from our retirement accounts. Here is why.RMDs begin in the year you turn 70 ½, not 70. He turned 70 in January, so he turned 70 ½ in July. That means that he has an RMD for this year from his retirement accounts.

As you accumulate money in an employer retirement plan, somewhere along the line you are going to be faced with one question: should I leave it in the plan or roll it out? For many, that question doesn’t arise until they separate from service or reach age 59 ½. Employees that participate in plans with in-service distributions before age 59 ½ will ask that question much sooner.

Do you have after-tax dollars in your IRA? This could be from making nondeductible contributions to your IRA or rolling over after-tax funds from your company plan to your IRA. If so, you will want to know about the pro-rata rule.

There’s an old saying that being close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Such is the case with the U.S. Tax Code. In this arena, deadlines and timing really matter. Trying to do a 60-day rollover 61 days after the actual receipt of withdrawn funds doesn’t work.

Not all contributions to IRAs belong there. When a contribution is not permitted in an IRA it is an excess contribution and needs to be fixed.

Contributing to a Roth IRA is generally considered to be a good idea. But not everyone is eligible to make an annual contribution. We have seen several cases recently of individuals who contributed for many years until they discovered they were not eligible to make any Roth contributions. Here is what you need to know.

As Americans live longer, more are eventually coming to need long-term nursing home care. The cost of this can be devastating to a family. Nursing home care now costs an average of over $85,000 per year, and much more than that in some parts of the country.

For years there has been concern by some planners that a back-door Roth conversion might be considered a step transaction by IRS. Most planners, however, did not feel that a back-door Roth fit all the criteria of a step-transaction.

Question:Can you do trustee-to-trustee transfer from an Annuity Trad IRA to Mutual Fund Trad IRA?