IRA

Paying for College – Should You Use Your IRA Funds?

It’s back to school time and the costs for college are quickly mounting. Where is the money going to come from? Many times individuals look to their retirement funds to pay higher education expenses. Can this be done and is it a smart move?

What’s Your IRA Worth?

Many IRA owners invest in assets other than the usual stocks, bonds, cash, and mutual funds. In fact, the tax code allows for IRAs to invest in just about anything out there except for collectibles, life insurance, and S-corporation stock. But when you invest in those “other assets,” what are they really worth?

Inheriting an Inherited IRA

What are the rules when you inherit an inherited IRA? We get this question frequently. Let’s consider what happens when using designated beneficiaries.

5 Strategies to Reduce RMDs

Nothing lasts forever. This includes tax deferral on your IRAs. Eventually, Uncle Sam is going to want his share and will require funds to come out of these accounts. That is when required minimum distributions (RMDs) must begin. What if you don’t need the money? What if you don’t want a tax hit? Here are five strategies to reduce your RMDs.

Six Things to Know About the Year-End Account Balance Used for RMDs

1. General Rule As a general rule, the account balance used for calculating required minimum distributions (RMDs) is the prior year-end account balance, with no adjustments. For example, if you are calculating an RMD for 2017 you would use the 2016 year-end account balance. If you are calculating a missed RMD for 2014, you would use the 2013 year-end account balance. If you have your first RMD due for 2017 and you take that RMD in March of 2018, you still use the 2016 year-end account balance. As usual with retirement distribution rules, there are some exceptions to the general rule.

Once-Per-Year Rollover Rule – The Exceptions to the Rule

As with most IRA rules, there are exceptions to the once-per-year rollover rule. The rule applies to IRA-to-IRA and Roth IRA-to-Roth IRA 60-day rollovers. Just to be clear, an IRA rollover occurs when a check is issued by the IRA or Roth IRA custodian that is payable to the account owner. The following are the exceptions.

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