IRA

Death During a Rollover

A financial advisor contacted me about her client who had recently passed away. The advisor was legitimately concerned about a rollover check received by the now-deceased individual. It had not been deposited into his IRA prior to death. Was her client’s estate stuck with a taxable distribution? Could the financial institution refuse the rollover because the person was no longer of this earth?

How Much Can a Stretch IRA Be Worth?

One of the greatest benefits of an IRA is its ability to provide tax-favored wealth for heirs. An IRA left to a beneficiary can be "stretched" to provide pre-tax compound investment returns for the rest of the beneficiary's life -- or even longer. And these can be distributed totally tax free if it is a Roth IRA.

Using Your IRA for a Short-Term Loan

For many Americans, their IRA is their largest asset. It is not surprising then that in times of financial trouble, they may want to turn to their IRA as quick source of cash. If this is your situation and you are thinking about using your IRA for a short-term loan, here is what you need to know.

Make Charitable Gifts by Year End to Lock In Deductions Now

This is the season for charitable giving. And this year, it is especially so for those who want to get the most tax benefit from charity deductions before new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act becomes law. The Act effectively reduces the tax-saving value of the charitable contribution deduction for many.

Self-Directed IRAs and Prohibited Transactions

Creating a self-directed IRA is relatively straightforward. It is not a creation of the tax code, but rather stems from the investment policies of the custodian that administers the IRA account. The agreement will allow you to diversify your IRA assets across a wide range of investments that you choose. However, when investing self-directed IRA assets, it is important that you and your advisor understand the types of transactions to avoid. These transactions, called “prohibited transactions,” can lead to serious tax consequences, including the disqualification of your IRA assets.

Give the Gift of a Roth IRA for Christmas

This holiday season consider giving the gift of a big head start on lifetime financial security to the children in your family by giving them funds to contribute to Roth IRAs. There's no lower age limit on having a Roth IRA as long as a child has earned income. And an early start on saving can have a tremendous long-term payoff through the power of compound interest.

Roth IRAs – Favored for Annual Contributions, Neglected for Rollovers from Company Plans

Roth IRAs become 20 years old in January of 2018 and now hold more than $660 billion in retirement wealth, reports the Investment Company Institute. Yet while Roth IRAs have become very popular among individuals who make annual contributions to IRAs, they are near totally avoided by persons who roll over big-dollar distributions from company retirement plans into their IRAs, with these funds going overwhelmingly into Traditional IRAs.

Retirement Account Limits for 2018

While there is a lot of focus on the proposed tax law changes that have a target effective date of 2018, there is something we can count on for 2018, the inflation adjusted retirement account limits. There are currently no proposed changes to the following limits.

Tax Reform and Your Retirement Account

House Republicans took the first shot at tax reform with the release of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on November 2. Now it is the Senate’s turn to weigh in. Not surprisingly, the Senate’s take on overhauling the tax code looks very different than the House version. You may wonder how your retirement account may be affected. Here are some highlights.

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