by Kenny | Aug 12, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Of all the many provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act, none has been more perplexing than Section 327, which changed the rules for spouse beneficiaries. It has been hard to figure out what Congress intended in drafting...
by Kenny | Aug 8, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Thank you for all of the wonderful information. I have a question as to how the July 18, 2024 final regulations impact inherited Roth IRAs. My daughters inherited Roths from their grandmother 3 years ago. She was age 101. They...
by Kenny | Aug 7, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Trapped. For two nights in July, I slept on the floor at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport – a victim of the mass Delta computer outage. Booking a hotel after midnight (when the final cancellation hit) was not worth the...
by Kenny | Aug 5, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst One of the positive outcomes of the new IRS final SECURE Act regulations on required minimum distributions (RMDs), released on July 18, is that more beneficiaries will be able to stretch RMDs over their lifetime. Under the 2020 SECURE...
by Kenny | Aug 1, 2024
QUESTION: I inherited both a traditional and a Roth IRA from my significant other (non-spouse) who passed away in 2021. He had started taking required minimum distributions (RMDs). I am less than 10 years younger than he was. Question is: do I or do I not have...
by Kenny | Jul 31, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education In newly released final required minimum distribution (RMD) regulations, the IRS is doubling down on its position that annual RMDs are required for some beneficiaries during the SECURE Act’s 10-year payout period....
by Kenny | Jul 30, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst In Part 1 (July 17), I discussed 5-year clock issues when a non-spouse beneficiary inherits a Roth IRA. In Part 2, I will hit on the important concepts and options available when a spouse inherits a Roth IRA. Keep as...
by Kenny | Jul 25, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst In the July 22, 2024 Slott Report, my colleague Sarah Brenner explained how the IRS, in its final SECURE Act required minimum distribution (RMD) regulations issued on July 18, did not budge on a controversial position it had taken in its...
by Kenny | Jul 25, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education On July 18, 2024, the IRS issued final required minimum distribution (RMD) regulations under the 2020 SECURE Act. The newly issued regulations fine-tune existing rules for trust beneficiaries and aggregation...
by Kenny | Jul 18, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: One of our clients wants to cash out his IRA and then roll it into a Roth IRA within 60 days. Can this be done directly, or does it have to be rolled back into an IRA first and then converted? Thanks, Samuel Answer: Hi Samuel, A...
by Kenny | Jul 16, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst When an IRA owner does a Roth conversion, there is typically a 5-year clock for the earnings on the converted dollars to be tax free. If a person already had a Roth IRA for 5 years AND is over 59 ½, there is no conversion...
by Kenny | Jul 15, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst One of the more interesting rules (if any could be called “interesting”) from the 2022 IRS proposed regulations requires spouse beneficiaries in some situations to take RMDs (required minimum distributions) before doing a spousal...
by Kenny | Jul 11, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst QUESTION: Do required minimum distributions (RMDs) need to be taken when a non-spouse beneficiary inherits Roth IRA? It seems this has been a point of confusion for some time. ANSWER: This is something that confuses a lot of...
by Kenny | Jul 10, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education If you are charitably inclined and have an IRA, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) can be a great strategy. With a QCD, you can move IRA funds to the charity of your choice tax-free. Here are 12 QCD rules...
by Kenny | Jul 8, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst If I pour too much water into a glass, removing liquid from a different glass does not correct the problem. The excess water must be removed from the “offending” receptacle. Such is the case with excess IRA contributions. If too...
by Kenny | Jul 3, 2024
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst If you take a taxable withdrawal from your IRA or 401(k) (or other company plan) before age 59 ½, you normally have to pay a 10% penalty in addition to taxes. But Congress continues to carve out exceptions to this penalty, and there are...
by Kenny | Jul 1, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education More and more Americans have retirement savings in Roth 401(k)s. With their rising popularity come some complicated tax issues. These funds are often rolled over to Roth IRAs at retirement or when a...
by Kenny | Jun 27, 2024
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I have a question about the Roth IRA distribution ordering rules based on a client’s situation: 1. The client is 45 years old. 2. She has had a Roth IRA open for five plus years. 3. She made a $6,000...
by Kenny | Jun 27, 2024
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst You know the game “beer pong?” Arrange 6 or 10 cups in a triangle, fill each one with a couple of ounces whatever beverage you are enjoying, and your opponent tries to toss a ping-pong ball into one of the cups. If a throw is...
by Kenny | Jun 24, 2024
By Ian Berger, JDIRA Analyst A recent survey found that over 80% of 401(k) plans now offer employees the option of making Roth 401(k) employee contributions. More and more employees are now taking advantage of that opportunity. (In this article, I use the term “Roth...
