The Slott Report

If you are on furlough thanks to the government shutdown and thinking about taking a distribution from your IRA, here are some things you need to know.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag includes information on opening non-deductible IRAs for the purpose of a backdoor Roth IRA, 401(k) beneficiary issues and if RMDs (required minimum distributions) can be converted to a Roth IRA.

For over a week now, the federal government has been partially shut down - what some news outlets have called a slim down - thanks to Congress' inability to come together on any sort of agreement that would have prevented, or at least delayed the issue at hand.

When you switch jobs or retire, you are generally entitled to a full distribution from your company retirement plan funds such as a 401(k). You must be given the option to roll over those funds to an IRA. Certainly, a rollover to an IRA is a great decision most of the time. A direct rollover to an IRA is tax-free and keeps your retirement funds intact and growing on a tax-deferred basis.

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.