The Slott Report

3 Tips For Tax Time Preparation

The holidays are over. New Years has come and gone. Now, of course, it's time to get ready for - cue the Andy Williams' music - "the most wonderful time of the year." Tax time! Here we give 3 tips to help you prepare.

Year-End IRA and Retirement Planning Questions Answered

2014 is almost here, but we wanted to open the Slott Report Mailbag one last time to answer some pressing year-end retirement planning questions, as well as several issues with decisions that will come in the new year. Click to read this week's Q&A with our IRA Technical Expert.

When Is Your IRA Distribution Taxable?

It is year-end. Retirement account owners and beneficiaries are grappling with required distributions for 2013 and, in some cases, with missed distributions from prior years. When there is a missed distribution, we constantly get the question, “Do I have to do an amended tax return?” The answer is, “No.”Distributions from retirement accounts are taxable to the recipient in the year in which the funds come out of the account. Read more for some examples.

National Newspaper Article Makes Major IRA Missteps

"Don't Let the IRS Gobble Up Your IRA," yet if you listen to the national newspaper article we read yesterday, that's exactly what the IRS will do. This article's author makes major mistakes, using the wrong IRA minimum distribution table in his example, using the wrong percentage when talking about required distributions from your IRA balance and more.

60 Day Rollover Waiver When IRA Was Involved in a Ponzi Scheme

IRS Private Letter Ruling 201342017 is a ruling that involved a Ponzi scheme in an IRA. An IRA owner we will call "Alex" asserted that his failure to complete his IRA rollover within the 60-day rollover window was because his financial adviser engaged in a Ponzi scheme.

3 Ways to Give to Charity in 2013

Ed Slott and Company IRA Technical Consultant Jeffrey Levine lays out 3 different ways you can give to charity in 2013, how charitable giving can help you at tax time and key strategies to take advantage of before the end of the year. It's December, so with that in mind, we lay out 3 ways you can give to charity in 2013.

Aggregating Required Distributions

Not only are the holidays upon us, but it is time to make sure that required distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans are taken before year end (or before the cutoff date imposed by the IRA custodian). One question that comes up frequently is what RMDs can be added together. We answer this in detail below.