This week's Slott Report Mailbag examines some key IRA questions, especially as we creep ever closer to year-end. What is the magical end date to make a 2014 Roth conversion? Can I take the total of my RMDs (required minimum distributions) from one IRA? And finally, we touch on a key planning point involving inherited IRAs and trusts.
A recent survey by TIAA-CREF revealed some startling data. Over one-third of those surveyed either did not know what an IRA is or the difference between an IRA and an employer-sponsored plan. That’s not good news and needs to be fixed. So, with that in mind, below are 5 key differences between IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans.
The IRS issued a news release (IR-2014-99) that announced the 2015 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for IRAs and other retirement plans. While many of these limits increased, some did not.
Can you mix your IRA and personal funds? Sometimes companies offer their investment products on sale. You might get a small cash bonus, a higher interest rate, or cash back if you invest today or by the end of the month when the offer ends. You might want this investment in your IRA because the investment, or the deal, is just that good. But here’s the problem. You can’t get your IRA funds out of your current investment into this new one that’s on sale before the sale ends. What are you going to do?
In this week's Slott Report Mailbag, we answer questions on if you can cover your employer plan RMD (required minimum distribution) with an IRA distribution, the rules governing 401(k)-to-IRA rollovers and the logistics of setting up your IRA for three beneficiaries.
If you've ever questioned whether a Roth IRA contribution or conversion was right for you or not, then chances are you've wondered if there was a simple calculator that could take all your pertinent data, analyze it, and then, like a “Magic 8 Ball" of Roth planning, spit out a definitive "yes" or "no," telling you what the correct course of action is. But is it possible that the calculator is lying to you?
The IRS announced that there will be a new form used to report qualifying longevity annuity contracts (QLACs) held in IRAs and other retirement plans. We unveil the draft of the new form and provide a refresher on how QLACs work in today's article.
October 15 was a major deadline in the IRA world. Now that the date has passed, IRA trust owners and beneficiaries need to be aware of the very important October 31 deadline. In this article, we examine the "who, what, when and why" of this IRA trust cutoff.
IRS can waive penalties and fees for several different instances. However, one area they can't save the unknowing taxpayer is the once-per-year IRA rollover rule. We go through the recent private letter ruling (PLR 201440028) to illustrate how the rule is set in stone.
A taxpayer's mental illness kept him from understanding how to proceed when his former bank decided to close his accounts and distribute all of his IRA funds. After his death, the widow realized she had unintentionally deposited the IRA funds into a non-IRA account. She filed a Private Letter Ruling (PLR) with IRS to rectify the issue. What did IRS decide?
