In 2024, more Americans than ever before will reach age 65. By this summer, 12,000 baby boomers will celebrate their 65th birthday each day. This demographic milestone has been called “Peak 65.” If you are in this group, what does Peak 65 mean for your IRA?
People on TikTok create investment advice videos? And I’m supposed to trust whatever this talking head is telling me? No chance. Of course, the person on TikTok could hold a number of higher education degrees and financial certifications, but until I know for sure who they are, what they are talking about, and what their objective is, I will keep my distance.
An advisor called to discuss Roth IRA conversions. His new client made some decisions before speaking with him, and he was trying to untangle her self-inflicted knot. She was 69 years old, a single tax filer, still employed, and had a $1 million traditional IRA. Based on advice from her brother (who is not a financial professional), she had already ripped through Roth conversions of $200,000 for both 2021 and 2022. The brother’s only consideration in making his recommendation was, “The market is down.”
The deadline for filing your 2021 tax return is this Monday, April 18. It is extended through the weekend because IRS offices in Washington DC are closed on Friday, April 15, in observance of the locally recognized Emancipation Day. As such, this buys all of us a couple of extra days to complete our returns. For procrastinators, or for those who simply had time get away from them, there is still sand in the hourglass to complete certain IRA transactions.
It may be hard to believe it but the countdown to the 2021 tax filing deadline is on. The deadline is April 18, 2022, for most filers. That is really only a few weeks away. Time is running out. Is your IRA ready?
Making a 2021 IRA Contribution
April 18, 2022 is the deadline for making a 2021 IRA contribution. This is true even if you have an extension to file your tax return. That does NOT give you extra time to make a traditional or Roth IRA contribution. So, if you are thinking about making that contribution you will need to move quickly.
It’s that time of the year! College bills for the Fall semester are arriving, and you may be thinking of tapping into your retirement savings to help with the costs. If you’re under age 59 ½, be careful. Your withdrawal may be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty unless you are able to take advantage of an exception to that penalty. (Remember that, even if you qualify for the exception to the penalty, distributions from traditional IRAs will be taxable.) Here’s what you need to know about the higher education expense exception:
Here we go again…barreling headlong into another tax season. This year will be like no other. With all the crazy that was 2020, many tax filers will discover some new and interesting items on their tax returns. For example – did you take a Coronavirus-related distribution (CRD) last year? That will require some additional reporting (Form 8915-E). Did you take your required minimum distribution in 2020, but then repay it after the CARES Act RMD waiver? That will generate a form you may not be familiar with (Form 5498).
With more 401(k) plans offering Roth contributions and more folks taking distributions from their plans, now’s a good time to review the tax rules governing Roth 401(k) distributions.
Beware of these 3 investing mistakes with your IRA: late investments, illegal investments, and prohibited transactions. They can cost you or your clients big bucks.
With the tax deadline having just passed, now is the perfect opportunity to start planning for next year. Last year’s return should be readily available, and you may even have many important items committed to memory. Additionally, four months into the year is the perfect time to begin making current year projections. Of course, this year is different. That’s because 2018 will be the first that we file under the changes created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
