Individual Retirement Accounts - IRAs
Strategies for maximizing your Individual Retirement Account (IRA’s) Investments, Tax Savings and Timing of Required Minimum Distributions
Found 367 Articles.
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Paying for the Roth IRA Conversion
The obstacle for many people who are thinking of converting their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs is the cost of the conversion. You have to include the converted amount in gross income as though it were distributed to you. The amount, after deductions, will be taxed at your ordinary income tax rate. As we discussed […]
An Alternative to an IRA Conversion
There’s an alternative to the IRA conversion. It works well for people who are using the IRA mostly for estate planning, don’t plan to take contributions during their lifetimes, and want to give substantial amounts to both charity and their families. When those are your goals, consider a charitable remainder trust instead of an IRA […]
Charitable Gifts from IRAs
Senior IRA owners had a special tax rule for charitable contributions the last few years. A transfer directly to a charity from an IRA owned by someone 70½ or older wasn’t included in the owner’s gross income. There was no deduction, either. The provision expired at the end of 2009. Congress plans to extend this […]
Planning for Heirs and Your IRAs
Most people have done only part of their essential IRA planning. You aren’t done planning until you’ve ensured the IRA’s beneficiaries have the information and tools they need to maximize the IRA’s after-tax value. The primary goal of the IRA, of course, is to maintain your standard of living in retirement. A secondary goal is […]
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Making Roth IRAs From Employer Plans
Many 401(k) account owners don’t realize they may be able to convert these accounts to Roth IRAs. The opportunity to convert traditional IRAs to roth iras now is well-known. We’ve been helping readers plan for it since 2008. The law now also allows the conversion of most employer-sponsored defined contribution plans to Roth IRAs. There […]
Avoiding Income Limits on Roth IRAs
Most of the IRA news for 2010 focused on converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. But there’s more to consider. For ex-ample: What about people who want to make annual IRA contributions? Is there a way for all of them to contribute to Roth IRAs? Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA […]
Answering Key IRA Conversion Questions
The critical decision of whether to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA continues to provoke questions and cause some confusion. I thank all of you who sent me your questions, details about your unique circumstances, and responses you’ve received from the IRS and others. Today we review some key points that seem to […]
Reviewing Your IRA to Maximize Benefits
IRAs are one of the most valuable assets owned by most Americans. Unfortunately, few people conduct an annual review of their IRAs. An annual review is an important step in maximizing the long-term value of your IRA. In this visit we examine the essential steps for a 2010 IRA review. Beneficiaries. Financial and estate planners […]
