The Slott Report

Ed Slott on the Willis Report: Fox Business News

Here is Ed Slott's interview with Tracey Byrnes on the Willis Report, talking about Roth Conversion Planning. The interview is from late December, but still applies if you decided to do a 2010 Roth Conversion. Click to watch the video.

Form 8606 for 2010 Roth Conversions

If you did a Roth conversion in 2010, you will need to file Form 8606 with your 2010 tax return. There is no escaping this unless you do a total recharacterization of your Roth conversion. Click to read more about Form 8606.

Roth IRA Conversion 10% Penalty Trap

A 10% early withdrawal penalty applies to taxable funds withdrawn from a traditional IRA before the account owner attains age 59 ½ unless an exception applies. The same penalty (with its own set of exceptions) also applies on distributions made from most employer-sponsored retirement plans, unless the payment is due to the participant’s separation from service in a year in which he or she attains age 55 or older. Click to read about two tax traps that will trip up an unsuspecting consumer and trigger the 10% penalty.

IRAs (SEP, Inherited, Stretch) Highlight Mailbag

IRAs, IRAs, IRAs. We have a full plate (leftovers from Thanksgiving) of IRA questions in this week's Mailbag. These questions touch on topics such as SEP IRAs, inherited IRAs and naming the trust as the beneficiary of IRAs.