Category: IRA
Bipartisan Support in Congress to Make Retirement More Secure
by LFG Tax Director, Mark Sipos On May 23rd, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the SECURE Act, which stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement. Most of the provisions in the act are designed to make it easier for more people to save for retirement, and for more employers to offer retirement plans for their employees. One notable provision in the bill would essentially end whats known as the stretch IRA. Under the current law, when a beneficiary inherits an IRA, the beneficiary can choose to have the IRA balance distributed in two ways: either in required minimum distributions based on his or her life expectancy, or during the five years after the original account holder passes. Making maximum use of the IRAs taxdeferred compounding like this is known as a stretch IRA. Under SECURE, in most instances an inherited IRA would have to be fully distributed within 10 years of the original owners death, although there are some exceptions. Some
Avoiding Costly Mistakes with Your IRA Distributions
At age 70 you need to be aware of these rules. If you have retirement accounts, the IRS has allowed you to have assets growing in those accounts without paying income taxes on the income or gains. At age 70 , the IRS wants to begin taxing those accounts by making you take money out, whether you want to or not. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are one of those facts of life that many dread, and that make life even more confusing and complicated. Lets try and reduce the confusion. For retirement account owners, the RMD rules apply to Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, qualified plans like 401ks, 403(b) and governmental 457(b) accounts. The RMD rules do not apply to Roth IRA owners, but they do apply to Roth IRA beneficiaries. If a non-spouse inherits a Roth IRA, they are required to take RMDs no matter what their age is, just like the non-spouse beneficiary of all retirement accounts. A word of caution: if you inherit an IRA from someone other than your spouse, you must begin taking
Your 401(K) Isn't Your Only Option
Youve heard it over and over again, from many places never, ever make an early withdrawal from your 401(k), unless its an emergency. And, we agree - thats often good advice. But there are a few exceptions where an early withdrawal may be to your advantage. Some companies allow active employees participating in a qualified employer-sponsored retirement plan to withdraw a portion of their account balance upon request, without demonstrating a specific financial need, usually at age 59 . This is called an in-service, non-hardship withdrawal. One reason you may want to consider this option is that by rolling over a portion of employer-sponsored retirement plan assets to a rollover IRA, you may be able to significantly expand your investment choices, especially if you have limited choices in your employer-sponsored retirement plan. 401(k)s typically offer limited fund options to participants. Spreading the risk among a group of investments is generally a good thing when saving for the long
Why a Roth Conversion can be a Smart Retirement Strategy
There are many options when it comes to retirement, and it can be hard to know which is right for you. One of those options a ROTH IRA conversion, can be a great strategy for some people. First, aquick refresher on how a ROTH IRA differs from a Traditional IRA. With a Traditional IRA: 1. You receive an upfront tax deduction on your annual contributions 2. Growth is tax-deferred growth until its withdrawn 3. Withdrawals are taxable as ordinary income 4. There are penalties if you take withdrawals before the age of 59 5. You have required minimum distributions (RMDs) that begin at age 70 With a ROTH IRA 1. Your contributions are front loaded meaning you use after-tax dollars for your contributions 2. Growth is tax-free 3. Withdrawals are never taxed 4. Earnings can be taken income-tax-free if you are at least 59 and have had the ROTH IRA for at least 5 years 5. There are no required minimum distributions ever! If you currently have a Traditional IRA, but some of the
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