Individual Retirement Accounts - IRAs
Strategies for maximizing your Individual Retirement Account (IRA’s) Investments, Tax Savings and Timing of Required Minimum Distributions
Found 388 Articles.
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Using a 401(k) Plan’s Investment Window
One of the most frequent questions I receive is: How can I implement your in-vestment recommendations through my 401(k) plan? A related question is whether a reader should keep assets at the 401(k) plan when leaving an employer or roll over the assets to an IRA. The sad fact is that most 401(k) plans aren’t […]
Avoiding Major IRA Beneficiary Mistakes
Most IRA owners plan for their loved ones to benefit from at least part of their IRAs. Many of them would be disappointed if they knew what would happen to their IRAs and how easy it would have been to avoid the problems with simple, low-cost actions. Reviewing your beneficiary designations is an important part […]
Managing Required IRA Distributions
The IRS is cracking down on IRA mistakes, and improper required minimum distributions (RMDs) are a major target. The IRS receives enough in-formation from IRA custodians to identify people who might have made RMD mistakes. The penalty for an incorrect RMD is 50% of the amount you should have distributed but didn’t. The IRS isn’t […]
Evaluating Your 401(k) Plan
Most people don’t know a lot about their 401(k) plans, which is odd, because that is the main retirement savings vehicle for most Americans. SmartMoney lists the key factors you need to review when evaluating your 401(k) plan. I don’t usually like SmartMoney’s “10 Things…” series, but this one makes a few good points among […]
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A Primer on Converting to a Roth IRA
Tax rates and taxes on investment income could rise after 2012. There’s the fiscal cliff of expiring tax provisions. Beyond that, there’s the likelihood that spiraling federal budget deficits and tax reform will cause higher tax rates on distributions from traditional IRAs. That’s why in 2012 Roth IRA conversions are on the list of potential […]
Safe Ways to Combine Trusts and IRAs
Trusts can make an inherited IRA last longer. They can control how an IRA is invested after you’re gone and when distributions are made to beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the tax law throws some obstacles in your way. Standard trusts and IRAs don’t mix. To reap the benefits of combining an IRA with a trust, you and […]
Avoiding Costly IRA Blunders
IRAs are among the most valuable assets most people own, and they become more valuable after receiving 401(k) rollovers. But they aren’t the s vehicles they seemed when people were opening them. There are many misunderstandings about IRAs. These misunderstandings frequently result in taxes and penalties that easily could be avoided. IRAs aren’t the simple […]
What’s Wrong with 401(k) Plans
The 401(k) revolution isn’t increasing retirement security for most employees. I don’t know many people who dispute that. But the real question is: Why aren’t 401(k) plans working. Of course, two reasons are employee behavior. They don’t save enough, and they don’t invest. But another problem, according to this post, is that most 401(k) plans […]
