This week's Slott Report Mailbag includes some detailed questions (retirement planning is complicated, you know!) on Roth IRA conversion taxes, excess IRA contributions and the process of combining Roth IRA accounts. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Consultant.
Can you believe it? We're now 7 full months into 2012 already. And while there's more fun in the sun to be had before summer comes to an end, August has traditionally signaled the start of the back to school season. With that in mind, we thought we'd spend a little time talking about the educational expense exception to the 10% penalty.
Welcome! Ed Slott and Company believes retirement planning education is worth celebrating, so we are putting on our party hats, lighting the candles and spending the day educating YOU - offering discounted books and a free download and holding live chats so you can have a better perspective on retirement planning from various points of view.
Ed Slott and Company has a special microsite just for those who pledged to Public Television during Ed Slott's recent special, Ed Slott's Retirement Rescue!. Below are two questions contained in the FAQ section of the microsite.
We are in a now all too familiar position. We don't know what the estate tax rules will be in 2013. The exemption amount is scheduled to drop back to $1,000,000 per person, and it will not be portable. We have no idea what Congress may or may not do about the situation. And, because 2012 is an election year, they may not do anything until late in 2013 or perhaps early in 2014. Do you need a trust to protect your estate tax exemption, or don't you? Should you name a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA, or not?
Retirement planning is all about proper decision-making. In this week's Slott Report Mailbag, we answer your questions about important decisions, including who to name as a beneficiary, how to handle Roth IRA distributions and if a certain key tax break applies to a certain situation. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Consultant.
Can you believe it? We're now 7 full months into 2012 already. And while there's more fun in the sun to be had before summer comes to an end, August has traditionally signaled the start of the back to school season. With that in mind, we thought we'd spend a little time talking about the educational expense exception to the 10% penalty.
Over the past several years, as the U.S. economy has been struggling, more employees have turned to their company 401(k) plans for a quick source of cash by taking loans from their plan balance. Many 401(k)s offer a loan feature, in fact some plans make it so easy for employees to get a loan that they offer a 401(k) loan debit card!
Ed Slott, America's IRA Expert, details the importance of having a current beneficiary form and describes how missing this key point can be costly for your intended retirement account beneficiaries. This IRAtv video goes through naming beneficiaries, using trusts as beneficiaries and lessons to learn to avoid costly mistakes and keep retirement plans updated.
In a recent case, a non-spouse beneficiary learned that an inherited IRA is taxable and is not treated as a tax-free “inheritance.” He received a total distribution from his deceased Mom’s IRA and thought that the IRA was an inheritance and not taxable. Accordingly, he never even filed a tax return to show the withdrawal. He was wrong on both points and had to pay the back taxes plus IRS penalties for not filing his return.
