Towards the end of each year, the IRS announces cost-of-living increases for several retirement-related dollar limits that will become effective for the next year. For example, last November, the IRS said that the limit on employee pre-tax deferrals and Roth contributions in company plans would increase to $20,500 for 2022. You may have also seen that the IRS compensation limit also increased for 2022 to $305,000. What is this limit all about?
Question:I turn 72 this year.I am getting notices from my many IRA custodians that they want a waiver on file if I am NOT using my account for the RMD (i.e., I am taking it somewhere else). They make it sound like if I do not contact them, that they will automatically cut me a check for the required RMD amount.
For IRA owners and retirement plan participants who are under age 59 ½, taking a distribution from a retirement account is typically off limits. The distribution will most likely be taxable, and there is a good chance that a 10% penalty will also apply. However, sometimes life gets in the way and a withdrawal needs to be made.
If you are under age 59 ½ and you converted your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you will need to watch out for the five-year rule for penalty-free distributions of converted funds. Not understanding how the rule works can result in unexpected penalties when you withdraw your Roth IRA funds.
Question:I'm retired, over age 59 ½, and want to take a single 401(k) distribution and convert it to my Roth IRA. Do I follow same 60-day rollover rules and first have to rollover the distribution to a Traditional IRA and then convert it, or can I deposit it directly into my Roth IRA?
We continue to get questions about whether it’s wise to do a Backdoor Roth IRA or Mega Backdoor Roth IRA at this point, given the unsettled state of the Build Back Better (BBB) legislation in Congress.As background, the Backdoor Roth IRA strategy allows you to make an indirect Roth IRA contribution if your income is too high to qualify for a direct contribution. (The income phase-out ranges for 2022 are $204,000 - $214,000 for married couples filing jointly and $129,000 - $144,000 for single filers). You simply make a traditional IRA contribution and then convert it to a Roth IRA. (No income limits apply for making traditional IRA contributions, but you must have taxable compensation or earned income.)
The “Martin Scenario”: Martin, age 40, has never done an IRA rollover before. He took a distribution from his traditional IRA in December 2021 for $10,000 and deposited it into his checking account. Martin took another distribution from his IRA in January 2022 for $50,000. He also deposited this into the same checking account.
Question:My question relates to an IRA withdrawal that is then deposited as a Roth conversion. Will this withdrawal count as a once-per-year IRA rollover?Thanks in advance for your wonderful advice.
The rollover rules can be especially challenging at the end of the calendar year. If you took a distribution from your IRA at end of 2021 and are considering a rollover in 2022, here is what you need to know.
72(t) payments have suddenly become a better deal for IRA owners and company plan participants.Also known as “substantially equal periodic payments,” 72(t) payments are advantageous because they are exempt from the 10% early distribution penalty that usually applies to withdrawals before age 59 ½. You can take them from an IRA at any time, but only from a workplace plan after leaving your job.
