Just a few weeks after the start of the baseball season, the IRS has thrown us a curveball by apparently interpreting the SECURE Act 10-year payout rule in a totally-unexpected way.
We say “apparently” because the IRS explanation isn’t very clear. And even if it was clear, the IRS offered the information in an informal publication that should not be relied on.
Here’s the backstory: One of the major changes made by the 2019 SECURE Act was the elimination of the stretch for many beneficiaries of inherited IRAs.
Last year the SECURE Act became law and eliminated the stretch IRA for millions of IRA beneficiaries. However, for some IRA beneficiaries the stretch lives on.
For most beneficiaries, the stretch is now replaced with a ten-year payout period. Beginning for deaths in 2020, the ten-year rule will apply to designated beneficiaries who are not eligible designated beneficiaries under the SECURE Act. Eligible designated beneficiaries include spouses, minor children of the IRA owner, chronically ill and disabled individuals and beneficiaries who are not more than ten years younger than the IRA owner.
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.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made sweeping changes to the tax laws. Brackets have been changed, deductions have been eliminated, and retirement plans have been affected. You may be wondering what the new law means for your IRA. Here are 5 things you need to know.
Another edition of the Slott Report Mailbag examines the power and process behind a stretch IRA and answers a tricky question about using the cost basis of employer stock to satisfy required minimum distributions (RMDs).
On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2017 Budget – his final budget proposal as President of the United States. Having seen none of his 14 retirement account-related proposals from last year’s budget enacted, the President has included them all again in this year’s budget. In addition, this year’s budget features one additional significant retirement account-related change. In this article, you will find a complete list of the 15 provisions in the President’s budget that directly relate to retirement accounts. For each, you’ll see whether they are new or carryovers from previous years, a description of each, as well as some commentary to provide insight and perspective.
This week's Slott Report Mailbag answers questions on three of our most popular topics: required minimum distributions (RMDs), the stretch IRA and IRA rollovers. The rules are extremely confusing, and we clear them up for these three consumers in this mailbag.
With the Roth recharacterization deadline approaching (October 15), this week's Slott Report Mailbag answers a great question about the 30-day waiting period on reconverting funds after a recharacterization and further clarifies a reader's question on utilizing the stretch IRA.
Are you named as a beneficiary on an IRA? It probably is not your intention to have a large portion of that inherited IRA go to taxes. How can you avoid this unfortunate outcome and maximize your IRA tax advantages? What is the most important thing you need to know as an IRA beneficiary?
This week's Slott Report Mailbag answers questions on the tax "sweet spot" in retirement, the tax and penalty impact on a non-spouse beneficiary's inherited Roth IRA distributions and the future of the stretch IRA.
