The Slott Report

Accelerating the Sale of Appreciated Capital Gain Property: A Strategy Worth Considering

As you are now no doubt aware, there are any number of ways which you might pay more in taxes for 2013 than you will this year. One of those many ways is when you sell long-term capital gain property. Common types of capital gain property are stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate. To be considered “long-term,” you must have held the investment for more than one year.

Using Your IRA to Pay For Higher Education

If you are thinking about going back to school but don't have the money, you can potentially use your IRA to pay for higher education expenses. Unfortunately, the distribution from your Traditional IRA will be taxable.

RMD Rules: Year-End Rules of the “Game”

The end of the year is rapidly approaching. It is time to make sure that all required distributions are taken from retirement accounts. Who must take a required distribution? We explain below.

Slott Report Mailbag: Can An Employer Have Both a SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA Plan For Their Employees?

The Slott Report Mailbag is back with three consumer questions that run the gambit of IRA-distribution and retirement planning. Can you use an IRA as security for a loan? How do you handle inherited IRAs for you and your wife? Can an employer have both a SEP and a SIMPLE plan for their employees? You have come to the right place for the answers.

Holiday Wish List of Tax Code Changes

The holiday season is upon us once again. There are a lot of things we associate with this time of year, but one of the most common has to be exchanging gifts with those we love. I can remember, as a child, writing out my wish list each year and the excitement I’d have wondering which gifts I might actually receive. Recalling those days I thought I would once again prepare a wish list, but with a little twist. Below you will find my holiday wish list to Congress and the IRS for changes I’d like to see made to the tax code.

Charities, IRAs and Hurricane Sandy

Many areas in the Northeast were declared federal disaster areas as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The IRS has provided help for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Some of the retirement plan initiatives the IRS has announced are explained below.

Successor Beneficiaries: The “Beneficiary’s Beneficiary”

It is vital that IRA owners name both primary and contingent beneficiaries. Failure to have a beneficiary in place at death could result in the loss of the extended payout, that is, the stretch IRA. Why? If the IRA owner’s beneficiary dies before the IRA owner and no contingent beneficiary was ever named, the IRA owner’s estate is usually the default beneficiary. The estate does not have a life expectancy to use for stretch distributions.

RMDs MUST Be Taken Before Doing a Rollover

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is not eligible for rollover. In an IRA, what this means is that when you have a required distribution for the year and you take a distribution payable to yourself, only the amount over and above the RMD amount can be put back into another IRA. This is true even if you take the distribution in January and you were planning on taking your RMD in December.