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What You Need to Know about the Still-Working Exception

Are you nearing retirement age and not looking forward to taking unwanted required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your retirement account? You may be looking for a strategy to delay those distributions. The “still working” exception allows RMDs to be delayed. Will this exception help you? Here is what you need to know.

Four Things to Know About Your Plan Rollover and Your RMD

Many Americans are still working long beyond what has traditionally been retirement age. This may be a choice or a necessity. If this is your situation, you may be keeping funds in your employer plan well into your seventies and maybe even later. This can bring big benefits. You can still make contributions to your retirement account, and you may even be able take advantage of the “still-working exception” that allows required minimum distributions (RMDs) to be delayed.

Repaying a CRD

Back in 2020 when COVID first became our new reality, Congress enacted the CARES Act. The CARES Act allowed qualified individuals who were affected by COVID to take penalty-free distributions from their retirement accounts of up to $100,000. The taxation on these distributions could have been paid in 2020 or spread over three years.

4 QCD Rules That May Surprise You

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a way for you to move funds out of your IRA to a qualifying charity income-tax free. If you are thinking this might be a good strategy for you, here are 4 QCD rules that may surprise you.

Inherited IRAs and RMDs: Today’s Slott Report Mailbag

Question: Dear Sirs: I inherited a regular IRA upon my mother's death in 2015. I am now 75 years old and have been taking required distributions since then. She was taking distributions herself when she died. My question is: may I close out this IRA now by taking out the entire balance and paying taxes on it? Thanks.

Too Old to Convert? Think Again

You may have heard how converting to a Roth IRA is a great move for younger people. This is no surprise. A younger person who converts has two big factors working in her favor. She may pay taxes on a smaller IRA balance, and she has many years to accrue tax-free earnings in her Roth IRA. But what about older people? It is a mistake to write off conversion just due to age. Older individuals should not overlook the potential tax benefits of converting later in life.

Inherited IRAs and Qualified Charitable Distributions: Today’s Slott Report Mailbag

Question: Ed, My mother passed away in May 2019, and I inherited her IRA. She had not completed her RMD for 2019, so I did that. In 2020, I began my RMDs based on the Single Life Table for Inherited IRAs. Since I inherited prior to January 1, 2020, does anything in the SECURE Act apply to my inherited IRA? Will I be able to continue the RMDs per the Table or will I need to make sure I empty it completely within 10 years of when I inherited it? Thank you, Dale

When the Five-Year Rule Applies

If you inherit an IRA, especially if it is a larger one, you may be afraid of being stuck with the five-year distribution rule. If this rule applies, your IRA must be entirely emptied in five years, which can be a serious tax hit. Under the tax rules, if you are named as the beneficiary on the IRA beneficiary designation form, you will not be subject to the five-year rule. Instead, you will most likely be looking at a 10-year payout under the SECURE Act. If you qualify as an eligible designated beneficiary, you can even still stretch payments from the inherited IRA over your life expectancy.

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