IRA

The High Cost of IRA Mistakes

So you think you don’t need/can’t afford an advisor? Have you considered the cost of making IRA mistakes? Even seemingly simple transactions are subject to rules and restrictions under the tax code. Did you contribute too much by mistake? This mistake cannot be corrected by simply withdrawing the excess amount. There are rules on how to fix the mistake. If you are not thoroughly familiar with the IRA rules, it is all too easy to make a mistake, and mistakes can be very costly.

Important Ages in Retirement Planning

Catch-up contributions for most retirement plans and IRAs can be made beginning in the year you are going to turn age 50. The only plan that does not allow catch-up contributions is the SEP IRA. The following are the catch-up limit amounts.

Three Ways to Decimate a Retirement Account in a Flash

If you want to move your retirement account from one institution to another, you can do it one of two ways; directly or indirectly. Moving your account directly is the preferred way because it avoids a lot of headaches, but for various reasons, sometimes people choose to use the indirect method.

State and City-Run IRA Plans Are Not Going Away

On April 13, President Trump signed into law legislation that blocked Obama-era Department of Labor (DOL) regulations encouraging the establishment of IRA plans run by cities and municipalities. On May 17, he signed similar legislation applying to state-run IRAs. While these new developments may make the road ahead for both city and state run IRA plans more difficult, these plans are not going away.

One-Rollover-Per-Year Rule and Spouse Beneficiaries

Hopefully, by now everyone has heard that IRA owners can only do one IRA-to-IRA or Roth IRA-to-Roth IRA 60-day rollover in any one-year period. This interpretation of the 60-day rollover rules was part of a 2014 Tax Court decision (Bobrow v. Commissioner, T.C.Memo. 2014-21). What was unclear from this ruling and from subsequent IRS guidance was whether or not the rule applied to a surviving spouse who inherited multiple IRAs from a deceased spouse.

How Your IRA Can Cost You When It Comes to Medicare

You have done the right thing for years. You have diligently saved and accumulated funds in your IRA. At some point, the funds that you have put away for years must come out. Uncle Sam wants his share. When you reach age 70 ½, you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) for that year and for every year thereafter.

Seven Ways the IRS Knows…

It’s not a good question to be asking, and it’s certainly not the right question to be asking, but one fairly common question asked by both advisors and clients is “How are they going to know?” The “they,” they’re referring to, is the IRS. For those that have ever wondered, here are the answers to seven common “How are they going to know” questions.

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