Thomas Berman

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into rollover IRAs and PLRs.

You are 70 ½ or older this year so you have a required minimum distribution (RMD). But, you don’t need the money or you don’t want to increase your income and pay more in income tax so you don’t want to take your RMD. What happens if you just ignore your RMD and do not take it?

Fall is in the air and the holidays are just around the corner. For many retirement account owners, this means that an important deadline is approaching. Most of those who are 70 ½ or older will need to take a 2016 RMD by December 31, 2016. However, that deadline does not apply to everyone. If you are age 70 ½ or over, when would an RMD not be required to be taken from your retirement account by the upcoming December 31 deadline? Here are some exceptions that might apply to you.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into beneficiary IRA's with specific examples when over or under 70 1/2 years old with QCDs, RMDs as well as pre and post tax contributions.

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said (10,000 times)? The election of Donald Trump to be our next President shocked the pollsters, the American public and, by all accounts, even the President-elect himself. Reactions are obviously divided, to say the least, but one thing that has united most retirees, regardless of the side of the aisle that they sit on, is the question, “What does this mean for me?”

The deadline of October 15th has passed for recharacterizing Roth conversions done in 2015. (You have until October 15, 2017 to recharacterize your 2016 Roth conversions.) Now that you have recharacterized a 2015 conversion, what comes next? Can you reconvert those funds? The answer is yes, after a waiting period.