IRAs are U.S.-based retirement accounts. Today, however, more than ever we live in a globalized world. Many U.S. citizens work, sometimes for many years, overseas. The reverse is also true. And many of our country’s citizens still have many close friends and family overseas. Put all that together and today, it’s possible that you may have questions about how the IRA rules work when either you or your beneficiaries live abroad. With that in mind, below we tackle three of the most common questions.
Since the release of IRS Notice 2014-54 on September 18, 2014, there has been some confusion over whether the rules in that Notice apply to converting IRA funds to a Roth IRA. Notice 2014-54 provides favorable guidance for people with after-tax money in their company retirement plan, such as a 401(k). As a result of the Notice, if you have after-tax funds (basis) in your company plan, you may be able to convert some of your retirement savings to a Roth IRA tax-free.
In the wake of IRS Notice 2014-54, this question is coming up a lot. Can you roll only after-tax 401(k) funds to a Roth IRA? The answer is that you are NOT limited to moving only after-tax employer plan funds to a Roth IRA.
Since you have unlimited access to your IRA funds, you might be tempted to use your IRA for personal use. While you are allowed to take an IRA distribution at any time, and for any reason, the IRA distribution will be taxable to you if you don’t roll it over within 60-days of receipt. So, in order to avoid having to pay federal income taxes on an IRA distribution, you might think to try and take a loan from your IRA instead. Unfortunately, taking a loan from your IRA could actually cost you MORE in taxes than taking an IRA distribution.
You or your client has several retirement accounts. Can you take the required minimum distribution (RMD) from just one account? The answer is maybe. Let’s start with what you cannot do. You cannot take the RMD for one type of account from a different type of account.
This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks at utilizing the pro-rata rule to calculate tax consequences for your Roth IRA conversion plus what life expectancy table an IRA inheritor should use to calculate their RMDs (required minimum distributions) moving forward. As always, we recommend you work with a competent, educated financial advisor to keep your retirement nest egg safe and secure. You can find one in your area here.
Moments ago the IRS released new guidance – IRS Notice 2014-54 – regarding distributions from company retirement plans when there are both pre and post-tax money in those accounts. For years now, one question has plagued both plan participants and financial advisors alike… “If someone has a 401(k) with pre and post-tax money, can they take a distribution and roll (convert) just the post-tax money to a Roth IRA tax-free, while rolling the remaining pre-tax money over to a traditional IRA?” What's the answer now?
Yesterday the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study on IRA balances accumulated as of 2011. The report provides some fascinating information about the number of people who have IRAs, as well as the staggering amounts that some people have accumulated in them. While there are many points that can be taken away from the study, here are three that may be of particular interest.
Life insurance and Roth IRAs have a lot in common. They are both often used as wealth transfer tools to help facilitate an efficient transfer of assets from one generation to the next, and they are both able to provide a tax-free legacy, just to name a few. Despite their many similarities, however, Roth IRAs and life insurance are very different and the rules that apply to one don’t always apply to the other. In fact, more often than not, that’s the case. Below, we discuss three such examples.
In private letter rulings (PLRs) 201430026 and 2014130029, IRS allowed the surviving spouses to roll their inherited IRAs through a trust to their own IRAs. The twist here is that the trust beneficiary was the spouse’s own trust, not a trust established by the decedent. In nearly identical situations, a husband named his wife’s trust as the beneficiary of his IRA. Both husbands died before attaining age 70 ½. Properly titled inherited IRAs were set up for the trust beneficiaries. Each wife was the trustee of her own trust and had no limits on her ability to take distributions
Below is the required verbiage that must be added to any re-branded piece from Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC. The verbiage must be used any time you take text from a piece and put it onto your own letterhead, within your newsletter, on your website, etc. Verbiage varies based on where you’re taking the content from.
Please be advised that prior to distributing re-branded content, you must send a proof to [email protected] for approval.
