In the past few weeks, there has been upheaval in Congress. With the retirement of House Speaker, John Boehner, the Republicans in the House of Representatives are struggling to elect and unite behind a new Speaker of the House. This turmoil has far-reaching consequences as Congress has a packed legislative agenda and the end of 2015 is rapidly approaching. If you are an IRA owner considering a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) for 2015, Congress' disorder has implications for you.
As part of your estate plan, you may be considering leaving some of your assets to a charity. This is a fairly common part of many estate plans, and is often shaped by one’s experiences during life. Certainly, leaving money to a charitable organization as part of your last request is commendable no matter how you decide to go about doing so. That said, if you’re going to do it, you should do it wisely.
This month's Ruling to Remember examines the case of a former plan administrator with the United Public Workers (UPW) Mutual Aid Trust Fund who was convicted of multiple crimes and used funds in a rollover IRA to pay the fine and restitution. What comes next is several judgments and disagreement over tax liability.
There are two important dates in October, the 15th and the 31st. Read on to learn more about these deadlines and dates to put on your calendar.
IRAs are designed to be used for retirement savings. Ideally, to maximize the benefits of these accounts, you should not touch these funds before reaching retirement age. However, in the real world, you may need money and consider tapping your IRA earlier. If you do, you should be aware of the 10% early distribution penalty. This penalty is assessed on early distributions from IRAs, in addition to any taxes you may owe. Here are ten things you should know about the 10% early distribution penalty and IRAs.
We are beginning a new monthly feature - a content creation stream of each month's best retirement and retirement planning facts and figures. Before each fact, you’ll find my own brief commentary, and after each fact, you’ll find the original article from which the fact was pulled should you be interested in further reading.
A question we are frequently asked is, "can I convert my inherited retirement plan funds to an inherited Roth IRA?" The answer is no – and yes. The explain when you can and when you can't in today's article.
An article titled “If You Have Savings In Your 20s, You’re Doing Something Wrong” has recently gone viral. The article, which got over two million likes on Facebook, suggests that saving for your future in your twenties is a bad idea. It suggests that if you are in your twenties, you would be better off going out, spending money and enjoying life rather than saving for the future. We explain why you don't have to take an all-or-nothing approach to savings decisions in your 20s.
You opened your IRA account 20 years ago and named your spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA. Life has been good for the last 20 years, and you are still married to that same spouse and that same financial institution is still on the corner. But should you still have the same beneficiary form? A lot has changed in 20 years. You've updated your wardrobe and car. And you probably need to update your beneficiary form.
Are you named as a beneficiary on an IRA? It probably is not your intention to have a large portion of that inherited IRA go to taxes. How can you avoid this unfortunate outcome and maximize your IRA tax advantages? What is the most important thing you need to know as an IRA beneficiary?
