The Slott Report

Can you put your IRA into your trust? NO Can you transfer it to your spouse? NO. We explain why below.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag delves into inherited IRA questions as well as a common situation involving required minimum distributions at age 70 ½. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Consultants.

Ed Slott, America's IRA Expert, talks about halftime in 2012 and the upcoming July 4th holiday as a backdrop for moving more of your money from FOREVER taxed to NEVER taxed while tax rates are at historic lows. Ed provides some key 2012 retirement planning strategies, including Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s

You made after tax-contributions to your IRA. How does IRS know that you have after-tax money in your IRA? We explain below.

The Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's 2010 Health Care Law, the Affordable Care Act, with a 5-4 "up" vote on its constitutionality based on Congress' taxing power. Regardless of your politics, with the Supreme Court's decision, there is more certainty that health care taxes, what we call the health care surtax, will take hold on high-income earners in 2013. Ed Slott outlines what the Supreme Court ruling means for YOUR taxes and retirement planning situation in this IRAtv video below:

This week's Slott Report Mailbag includes your questions (and our answers) on inherited IRA distributions, SEP IRAs and the pro-rata tax rule

Today is a very special day here at the Slott Report. Why is that, you ask? Well, today is the start of a brand new feature here at the blog called "5 Quick Questions." From time to time you will see new 5 Quick Questions on all sorts of IRA and retirement account related topics.

A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) is a plan that allows businesses to make retirement contributions for its employees and owners without getting involved in more complicated qualified plans. Under a SEP, the contributions are deposited to a traditional IRA, sometimes called a SEP-IRA, set up by each eligible employee.

The Wall Street Journal's weekend edition featured an article by Kelly Greene on how IRAs are about to get trickier due to Uncle Sam tightening his belt on individual retirement account mistakes. The agency will report to the Treasury Department on how to recoup penalties from those who make IRA errors.

IRS recently completed a SEP plan compliance project and found errors by both the SEP employer and by the financial institution filing SEP contribution information. Below we outline the errors made by the employers and the financial institutions.