Tax season is here. This is the time when many IRA owners consider making contributions for the prior year. Are you planning on making a 2015 contribution to your IRA? Here are 10 IRA contribution rules you need to know.
The Roth IRA is one of the most useful tools in the retirement planning bag of tricks. But just as the quality of any tools at your local hardware store might vary from shelf to shelf, so too do the qualities of Roth IRA conversions you might execute. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with a “plain vanilla” conversion, but this article delves into a conversion strategy you might want to look into during stock market volatility: Roth-conversion-cost averaging.
What kind of nightmarish world would we be living in where prices would go up 2,000% overnight? A world where gas today is $1.50 per gallon, but tomorrow it will cost you $30 for the same gallon. Thankfully, such increases are all but unheard of in the real world. At least that’s the case most of the time. Effective February 1, 2016, the IRS is raising the cost of some IRA (and other retirement account) related private letter rulings (PLRs) by as much as 2,000%... overnight! Here’s the deal.
When you have an IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year, you generally use the prior year-end IRA account balance to calculate the RMD. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule and Roth recharacterizations are one of them. We provide an example that illustrates why not knowing the RMD rules can be very costly.
There are two important dates in October, the 15th and the 31st. Read on to learn more about these deadlines and dates to put on your calendar.
With the Roth recharacterization deadline approaching (October 15), this week's Slott Report Mailbag answers a great question about the 30-day waiting period on reconverting funds after a recharacterization and further clarifies a reader's question on utilizing the stretch IRA.
A question we are frequently asked is, "can I convert my inherited retirement plan funds to an inherited Roth IRA?" The answer is no – and yes. The explain when you can and when you can't in today's article.
October will be here before you know it. I know this because I have already seen Halloween candy in the grocery store. October 15 is the deadline for doing a Roth recharacterization. Here is what you need to know.
Recent weeks have been volatile times for the markets. In times of economic uncertainty, tools that allow you a “do over” are more valuable than ever. As an IRA owner, you have such a tool in your IRA tool kit: the recharacterization. We will discuss the many reasons you may consider a recharacterization.
As you are probably aware by now, the stock market has been on a bit of a downturn as of late (to say the least). It’s no fun to lose money in the market, but if you’re investing for the long haul, losses are bound to happen from time to time. If you’re quick on your feet, however, you can turn the proverbial lemons into lemonade by taking actions now to make the most of a bad situation. Here's how.
