The Slott Report

In Notice 2020-68, issued September 2, 2020, the IRS gave limited guidance on certain retirement provisions of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”). The SECURE Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019. Notice 2020-68 does not address one of the most significant SECURE Act changes: the elimination of the stretch IRA for most non-spouse beneficiaries and its replacement with a 10-year payout period.

Question: Good Afternoon Ed Slott and Company, LLC, I was inquiring about a recent situation with a client that came up and if you could be of any assistance. We recently had a client pass away who was the account holder of an inherited IRA from his mother. This client died in July 2020. The deceased listed his wife as 100% primary beneficiary of his inherited IRA and she will inherit this second-generation IRA once the new account is opened.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, or maybe even because of it, real estate markets in many areas of the country are busy right now. If you are considering jumping in, and if this is your first home purchase, coming up with a down payment can be daunting. Here is how an IRA can help a first-time homebuyer. Exceptions to the 10% Penalty IRAs are supposed to be for saving for retirement.

As sure as the sun will rise, someone will take a distribution from his IRA tomorrow. And as sure as the moon will set, someone will fail to roll over his IRA distribution within 60 days. And as sure as the wind will blow, so too will the icy gusts from the IRS as penalties and taxes accumulate like a snowdrift upon said distribution when the 60-day rollover deadline is missed. Yes, a person is permitted to take a distribution from his IRA and roll it over to another (or the same) IRA within 60-days. But only one rollover is allowed within a 12-month period. That means no rollovers for the next 365 days.

Question: I had taken an RMD in January 2020 from an IRA account. Then in July, I returned a portion back to the same IRA. Now I want to return another portion back to the IRA. Are multiple transactions for reversal allowed? Thanks for your quick reply in advance. Piyush Answer: Hi Piyush, You are allowed to pay back an IRA distribution with multiple partial rollovers.

Some of you may have received an RMD (required minimum distribution) from an IRA or employer plan earlier this year that you don’t want to keep. Since the CARES Act waived RMDs for 2020, “RMDs” received in 2020 are technically not RMDs and are eligible for rollover. The IRS has relaxed the usual 60-day rollover rule if an RMD is repaid by August 31. (The IRS also waived the once-per-year rollover rule for an IRA RMD that is repaid back to the same IRA before August 31.) With just a few days to go, you may not be able to time to meet the August 31 deadline. But all may not be lost.

The upcoming school year for many students is going to look like nothing we have ever seen before. For many, computers and related technology will become an indispensable part of academic life. This means that having reliable equipment and internet access is more important than ever. For many families this is just another unexpected expense in a pandemic economy. Here is how an ESA could help.

Question: In December of 2018 I did my first partial Roth IRA conversion into a new Roth IRA. I’m older than 59 ½. In December of 2019 I did my second partial Roth IRA conversion into the same Roth IRA opened in December of 2018. The traditional and Roth IRA’s are held at the same company, so the conversions are easy. Does the 5-year waiting period apply to each conversion, or just the first one? Answer: We get a lot of questions about the five-year rule for Roth IRA distributions! What makes this area so confusing is that there are, in fact, two different five-year rules that may come into play.

Dollar cost averaging is a tried-and-true investment strategy that has existed for decades. Using this technique, an investor divides up their entire amount to be invested and makes smaller periodic purchases over a desired time. The goal of dollar cost averaging is to minimize the potential volatility of a single large investment. Essentially, dollar cost averaging seeks to reduce the possibility of making a big purchase just before the value drops. Example: Roger has $10,000 and wants to invest in a mutual fund. Roger is unsure what the market’s direction will be over the next few months. To avoid the possibility of investing the full $10,000 all at once and then having the market immediately drop, Roger elects to dollar cost average.

Many of you may have already received, or may be receiving, an RMD (required minimum distribution) from your employer plan this year. If the CARES Act waived 2020 RMDs from plans and IRAs this year, how could a company plan be making RMD payments? The answer is a little complicated. Under the tax code, plans are allowed to force participants to receive a distribution without their consent at a certain age. For most plans, that is age 65. The CARES Act did not change that rule. So, plans are legally permitted to pay out RMDs at age 70 ½ or later – even in 2020. Plans may be continuing to pay RMDs to avoid modifying their procedures for processing distributions just for this year.