The Slott Report

Last week, America's IRA Experts descended on San Diego, California for our 2-Day IRA Workshop, Instant IRA Success. While we were in San Diego, we took the time to record some interactive, informational roundtables from the 30th floor overlooking the bay at the beautiful Grand Manchester Hyatt.

Many times we get the question “Do the 60-day rollover rules apply to Roth IRAs?” The answer is, yes. We explain why in detail below.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag comes to you from the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California and Ed Slott's 2-Day IRA Workshop, Instant IRA Success. We answer questions on Roth IRA contributions and more.

A SEP, or Simplified Employee Pension Plan, is an IRA-based employer retirement plan that’s very similar to a profit sharing plan. All SEP contributions are made by your employer. The employer decides how much to contribute for the year, anywhere from 0% to 25% of an eligible employee’s compensation with a maximum of $51,000 for 2013. After your employer decides how much to contribute, that contribution will be deposited into your IRA. Note that SEP contributions can never be made into your Roth IRA or your SIMPLE IRA.

We are ready to welcome another group of dedicated financial professionals to Ed Slott and Company's 2-Day IRA Workshop, Instant IRA Success, which begins this Thursday from the spectacular Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California.

An attorney's client has a couple of small IRA accounts. He is not currently working. There is a possibility that he may need to qualify for Medicaid in the future. He has a large amount of cash just lying around. The attorney's idea? Just tuck the cash into a Roth IRA. After all, it is after-tax money so what's the problem? We explain below.

We have written extensively about required minimum distributions (RMDs) for IRAs, but we haven't talked a lot about RMDs for 401(k) plans. Our staff writers and technical consultants have started to receive a steady stream of questions on this topic, so we decided to devote some virtual estate to answer a few of the frequently asked questions.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Technical Release 2013-04, describing its position on the recognition of same-sex couples with respect to employer retirement plans and other employee benefits as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor. We explain the details of the decision below.

You have your IRA at a large, reputable firm. They are going to give you accurate information, right? Not always. Consider the following:

This week's Slott Report Mailbag includes questions on using severance pay as compensation for 401(k) contributions, using non-cash distributions to satisfy RMDs (required minimum distributions, and rolling an after-tax 401(k) to a Roth IRA. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Expert.