The Slott Report

Stuck with the Five-Year Rule? Think Again

If you inherit an IRA, especially if it is a larger one, you may be afraid of being stuck with the five-year distribution rule. If this rule applies, your IRA must be entirely emptied in five years which can be a serious tax hit. Fortunately, you are much less likely to be stuck with the five-year rule than you may think.

RMDs to a Trust Beneficiary of an IRA

In the past couple of weeks, I have heard the wrong answer to the question of where required minimum distributions (RMDs) must go to a trust beneficiary from both an advisor and an IRA custodian.

Is Your IRA Haunted?

It’s Halloween season! This is the time for ghosts, witches, and trick or treating. What does Halloween have to do with your IRA? You might be surprised to hear that your IRA may be haunted. How can that be? Believe it or not, actions you take, or don’t take, can haunt your beneficiaries for years down the road.

Inherited IRAs – When do RMDs Begin?

We are frequently asked when required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin when an individual inherits an IRA. As with most things related to IRAs, the answer is, it depends.

Rothification?

Rothification is a term that is being tossed around a lot as tax reform takes center stage in Congress. What does Rothification mean? Proposals vary but, basically, it’s the idea of eliminating tax deductions and deferrals for retirement savings and instead mandating after-tax contributions with a payoff of tax-free earnings down the road. This is how Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s work so hence the term “Rothification” has emerged.

October Retirement Deadlines

In a post last week, we talked about the Roth recharacterization deadline which is fast approaching. October 16, 2017 is the last date to recharacterize a 2016 Roth conversion. Another important deadline that is coming up is for trusts that became the beneficiaries of retirement assets in 2016. A qualifying trust can use the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary of the trust to calculate required minimum distributions that are payable to the trust as the beneficiary of the IRA. A qualifying trust is often referred to as a look-through or see-through trust. There are four requirements that a trust has to meet in order to be a qualifying trust. From § 1.401(a)(9)-4, A-5.

Penalty-Free Retirement Account Distributions Now Available to Hurricane Victims

Millions of Americans were affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. You may be one of them. If you are, there is some encouraging news. On September 29, President Trump signed H.R. 3823, the “Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017” into law. The new law provides a package of tax relief for Hurricane victims, including a provision that allows penalty-free distributions from retirement accounts.