The Slott Report

A very common mistake on the part of IRA owners and plan participants is thinking that distributions taken because of their financial difficulties are tax and penalty free.

Do you have an HSA? Have you thought about what will happen to those funds after you are gone? You may be surprised. At your death, any funds remaining in your HSA are payable to the beneficiary you name on the account. If your spouse is your beneficiary the news is good. If your kids get your HSA, they may not fare so well.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into SEP-IRAs, 403(b)s and inherited IRAs.

The internet can be a blessing and it can be a curse. It is a fantastic place to do research on almost anything, but is the information you find current and accurate? Here are five things to consider when doing internet research into retirement questions.

Nothing lasts forever. This includes tax deferral on your IRAs. Eventually, Uncle Sam is going to want his share and will require funds to come out of these accounts. That is when required minimum distributions (RMDs) must begin. What if you don’t need the money? What if you don’t want a tax hit? Here are five strategies to reduce your RMDs.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into taking RMDs from multiple accounts, 60-day rollovers and the once-per-year rollover rule.

Most IRA accounts hold pre-tax contributions and rollover amounts from employer plans. For purposes of this blog, I am going to assume that there are no after-tax amounts held in any IRA, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs.

As the summer heats up, healthcare remains a hot topic. Will the ACA survive? Will Congressional Republicans succeed in repealing and replacing it? As we reach July these questions remain unanswered. One thing that is clear, however, is that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are playing a significant role in the healthcare deliberations. Proponents advocate expanding these accounts as a way to save on health costs and get a tax break. Opponents argue that HSAs can’t help those who cannot afford to fund them.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into inherited IRAs, RMDs, and NUAs.

1. General Rule As a general rule, the account balance used for calculating required minimum distributions (RMDs) is the prior year-end account balance, with no adjustments. For example, if you are calculating an RMD for 2017 you would use the 2016 year-end account balance. If you are calculating a missed RMD for 2014, you would use the 2013 year-end account balance. If you have your first RMD due for 2017 and you take that RMD in March of 2018, you still use the 2016 year-end account balance. As usual with retirement distribution rules, there are some exceptions to the general rule.