When you first open an IRA with a financial institution (custodian), you have to sign the custodian's IRA contract. This IRA contract must contain an IRA agreement and an accompanying disclosure statement. Usually both these documents are contained in one IRA contract, with the disclosure statement attached right behind the IRA agreement.
Many of the retirement plan annual limits are indexed for inflation. IRS has just released the plan limits for 2014. We look at those limits in some detail below.
You are allowed to buy life insurance inside your employer retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or profit sharing plan. While many plans don't offer life insurance as an investment, some in fact do. Click to find out more.
IRS recently issued a "friendly" reminder to taxpayers who did Roth conversions back in 2010 and took advantage of the two-year deal to split their conversion income equally between 2011 and 2012. IRS wants to be sure that those taxpayers do not "forget" to include the second half of their conversion on their 2012 tax returns.
As much as we like Roth conversions and encourage individuals to convert, we do realize that Roth conversions aren't for everyone. There have always been many factors to consider before doing a conversion. With the passage of the 2012 tax act on January 2, 2013 and with the healthcare surtaxes taking effect in 2013, there are now more factors to consider. We explain these below.
Tick, tock, tick, tock. 2013 is almost here, and we at The Slott Report want to provide a few more important points to remember if you are still sorting through year-end retirement planning. These are the questions I am getting most frequently as we near the end of the year.
Ed Slott spoke with Morningstar's Christine Benz earlier this week about last-minute IRA tax tips, including choosing between a traditional IRA and Roth IRA contribution, the backdoor Roth IRA and Roth recharacterizations. The videos can be found below in their entirety. Ed Slott speaks about choosing between a traditional IRA and Roth IRA contribution in this video.
The "sandwich" generation is those who are raising their children and also taking care of their parents. They are sandwiched by their care-taking responsibilities. They are likely to have their own 401(k)s or other employer plans and IRAs, and they are likely to be the beneficiaries of their parent’s retirement assets. Again, they are sandwiched – they are owners with beneficiaries and they are also beneficiaries. Here is what these caretakers need to know about both sides of the equation.
Ed Slott, America's IRA Expert, talks about a once-proposed (and recently dropped) provision in the Highway Investment Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012 that would have destroyed the Stretch (inherited) IRA. This provision would have killed a financial legacy for beneficiaries. Ed Slott discusses the provision and how it indicates Congress' line of thinking with IRAs, and more specifically, Stretch IRAs. He also mentions proactive planning strategies to simulate the benefits of a Stretch IRA.
Sometimes, you want to leave your IRA to a minor beneficiary but don't trust him or her to leave the inheritance alone once they turn legal age. One way around this is to use a trust. Ed Slott, America's IRA Expert, answers a listener's question about this very topic and provides some information on how to go through the process properly as well as the pros and cons.
