Does it seem like forever since the Treasury Department increased the amount you can contribute to an IRA? It turns out that the limit has been stuck at $5,500 (if you are under 50) and $6,500 if you are 50 or over, for six years. Those limits are being increased to $6,000 and $7,000 respectively, …View Article
Category: IRAs & Qualified Plans
IRAs & Qualified Plans
ROTH Conversions: More attractive under new tax law
There is no investment account more loved than the ROTH IRA. The promise of tax-free growth followed by tax-free withdrawals is hard to beat. My other two favorite features of the ROTH IRA are: 1) You can withdraw your contributions, but not the growth, before age 59 ½ without penalty (unlike every other retirement account), …View Article
Which Investments Belong In an IRA?
People frequently want investment recommendations. Less often do they concern themselves with which investments belong in which types of accounts. This is known as “asset location,” for those of you who like financial jargon. Investments generally grow faster in IRAs because Uncle Sam is keeping his hands off your earnings each year. Eventually, you pay …View Article
401k Plan – The First Place to Save for Retirement
Saving money is hard enough. I would hate for anyone to neglect saving for retirement because he or she is unsure of the best way to do so. There are lots of savings options such as IRAs, ROTH IRAs, rental real estate, precious metals, or simply building up a big stash of safe liquid money …View Article
Required Minimum Distributions: FAQs
All our lives, we are taught to save for the future. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are your signal that the future has arrived. Really, it is a signal that Uncle Sam would like to collect his taxes. Nevertheless, many retirees find it a bit strange that they must withdraw from their retirement accounts whether they …View Article
IRA Contributions- FAQs
Everyone wants to minimize his or her taxes, and one way to do this is to contribute as much as possible to tax-deferred retirement plans. The company-sponsored varieties (e.g., 401k, 403b, 457, SEP & Simple IRA) are all great because they have high contribution limits, and you can systematically add to them from every paycheck. …View Article
ROTH IRA vs. Traditional IRA: Which is Better?
I must be living in a bubble. I thought everyone had a least one IRA, ROTH IRA or qualified retirement account. Most people I meet have more than one, yet it turns out that only 53% of households with people age 55 and older have a retirement account such as a 401(k) or IRA. This …View Article
401k – The Accidental Savings Plan
Do you ever wonder what may be buried in the 40,000 new laws that were passed last year? Frequently, a few sentences that did not seem to be a big deal at the time turn out to have huge impacts on people’s lives. One example was a minor change to the IRS tax code in …View Article