An advisor called about a client who has a bond in his IRA that is in default. He has not taken his required minimum distribution (RMD) from that IRA account for the last three years because the bond is illiquid at this point in time. He does have other IRAs. What should he do?
Retirement planning for millions of Americans just changed dramatically. Last night, President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which has a significant impact on both Medicare Part B participants and those trying to employ savvy planning tactics to get the most of their Social Security benefits. Here’s what you absolutely need to know.
Social Security is a necessary component of many current and pre-retirees' revenue streams. However, the personal decisions one must make about when to claim the benefit come with tricky formulas and not-so-obvious choices. This example details how the "clear" choice may not always be the right one.
Consider a typical scenario. There is a married couple, Peggy and Tom, and both have their own revocable trust. They also each have their own retirement accounts. It is frequently recommended that individuals name a trust as the beneficiary of their retirement accounts. We will assume that it is necessary for Peggy and Tom to do this. Whose trust should they name as the beneficiary?
If you have an IRA, you probably are aware that when you reach retirement, there are rules requiring annual distributions. You may have questions as to when these distributions must begin. The rules can be confusing! Here is what you need to know about when you must start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your IRA.
Roth IRAs are powerful retirement savings tools... if you used correctly. Here are 3 Roth IRA myths you simply can't afford to believe.
When you have an IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year, you generally use the prior year-end IRA account balance to calculate the RMD. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule and Roth recharacterizations are one of them. We provide an example that illustrates why not knowing the RMD rules can be very costly.
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.
This week's Slott Report Mailbag answers a question about the IRA rollover procedure compared to trustee-to-trustee transfers and examines the Back-Door Roth IRA strategy. Open this week's mail to read the answers to questions about these two key IRA planning processes.
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.
