The Slott Report

Don’t Invest IRA Money Outside of Your IRA

You can invest your IRA funds in just about anything. However, you’re not allowed to invest IRA funds in collectibles, life insurance, and S Corp stock; but other than that, almost everything else would be allowed. It’s important to understand that when we talk about investing your IRA funds, we’re talking about investments inside your IRA. Someone recently learned a hard lesson when he invested his IRA funds outside his IRA, which caused a taxable IRA distribution that the IRS wouldn’t allow him to fix.

RMD Problems with Plan Rollovers to IRAs

You just hit the magical tax code age of 70 1/2 and decided it was time to move those employer plan retirement funds to an IRA. You must take your required minimum distribution from the plan first. What happens if you don't? IRA Technical Expert Beverly DeVeny outlines the consequences and how to correct them.

Are the RMD Withholding Rules Different for a Pension Plan?

This week's Slott Report Mailbag goes situational - looking at an individual who forget to take his RMD (required minimum distribution) before rolling over his pension plan to an IRA, a woman who wants to find the best path to leave her IRA to her three sons and an employee who was re-hired by his old company and wants to know if he can roll his original 401(k) plan to an IRA. We have the expert answers.

Answering Reader Questions About the President’s Budget Proposals

Last week,we detailed the 14 proposals in the President’s budget that, if implemented, would have a direct impact on retirement accounts. Since that time we/ve been flooded with questions and comments about the proposals, how they would work and what our feelings about them are. Here are Jeffrey Levine's responses to a handful of those inquiries.

President Obama’s 2016 Budget Takes Aim At Your Retirement

On Monday, February 2, 2015, President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget was unveiled to the American public, along with the Department of Treasury’s Greenbook, which provides further explanation and details of the proposals in the President’s budget. In truth, the President’s budget is really more of a “wish-list” than anything else, but here's a good indication of where the administration is headed when it comes to retirement planning.

Did You Take an IRA Distribution in 2014? Check Your Mail

Most of us know to check our mail around this time of the year for our copies of IRS Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Our employers have to send us copies of Form W-2 by January 31st of the following year. Because January 31, 2015 was a Saturday, the deadline to send us our 2014 Form W-2 was February 2, 2015. February 2 was also the deadline to receive another key form if you took an IRA distribution in 2014.

When Does the Roth IRA 5-Year Clock Begin?

For anyone who did a Roth IRA conversion in 2010, you have now fulfilled the 5-year waiting period for taking penalty-free distributions from your 2010 Roth conversion. You have also passed one test for taking a qualified distribution. Here's what else you need to know about the Roth IRA 5-year clock.

Can I Start Taking RMDs Then Stop if I Resume Working?

In this week's Slott Report Mailbag we answer questions on (dreaded) excess IRA contributions and the penalties involved as well as whether an individual can start taking RMDs (required minimum distributions) only to start working again and halt taking them.