Oftentimes with these articles, I compare certain retirement account rules to arbitrary items. A creative metaphor or simile can help the reader grasp a concept. For instance, past entries have referenced revolving doors, hurricane preparedness, Bloody Mary cocktails, Charlie Brown’s Halloween costume, genies in lamps and even Indiana Jones. But I was struggling. No single comparison seemed to carry the weight necessary to create an entire Slott Report submission. So, here is a 6-pack of random summertime similes and other retirement account comparisons.
It is important to do your due diligence when hiring anyone who claims to be an expert. The same holds true for financial professionals. Before dumping your entire piggy bank in the lap of a random advisor, be sure he or she has the skills and experience necessary to manage such a responsibility. Regarding IRAs, here are 10 good questions to ask your advisor:
So you think you don’t need/can’t afford an advisor? Have you considered the cost of making IRA mistakes? Even seemingly simple transactions are subject to rules and restrictions under the tax code. Did you contribute too much by mistake? This mistake cannot be corrected by simply withdrawing the excess amount. There are rules on how to fix the mistake. If you are not thoroughly familiar with the IRA rules, it is all too easy to make a mistake, and mistakes can be very costly.
One of the most common Roth IRA questions I'm asked is, "Should I make a Roth conversion?" While Roth conversions can make sense at any age, depending on your particular circumstances, generally speaking, the younger you are, the more it makes sense. In this article we go over 3 reasons to wait until you retire to make a Roth conversion.
When it comes to estate planning, one of the primary goals is to transfer as much of a person's assets to their intended beneficiaries at the lowest cost or, in other words, by paying the least amount of tax. Today, the federal estate tax exemption is $5,340,000 per person. It is also portable (can be transferred) between spouses, giving them a maximum exemption of $10,680,000 per couple and the maximum rate is 40%. That is a far cry from where we’ve been.
It's that time of year. The leaves are falling. The holidays are coming. And retirement planning quickly turns to year-end conversion questions. To help the financial advisor-client team with your year-end Roth conversion planning, we have assembled a FAQ list below.
You are allowed to buy life insurance inside your employer retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or profit sharing plan. While many plans don't offer life insurance as an investment, some in fact do. Click to find out more.
If you put money into an IRA or Roth IRA earlier this year for 2013 or plan to do so before the April 15, 2014 contribution deadline, it’s important to double check and make sure you are actually able to do so. Any amount you contribute to an IRA/Roth IRA that isn’t allowed to be there will cost you a 6% penalty if it is not timely removed by October 15, 2014. Worse yet, that 6% penalty is not a one-time penalty. Every year the errant contribution remains in the account, the 6% penalty is assessed.
This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks at naming minors as IRA beneficiaries, something we cover in some depth in other articles, as well as the RMD (required minimum distribution) rules around annuities. Click to read a Q&A with our IRA Technical Expert.
When you are entitled to receive withdrawals from your employer's retirement plan, such as a 401(k), a rollover to an IRA is a smart move in most cases. But there are some times when it’s best to leave the money in the employer plan and NOT do a rollover to an IRA. We detail those scenarios below.
