Ah, poor, misunderstood and neglected Keogh (KEE-og) Plan. You don’t get the press that your fancy relatives 401(k), IRA and Roth, or even SIMPLE achieve… it seems as if the investment discussion world is completely abandoning you. First brought into existence in 1962 (yes, it’s a post-boomer like me!) the Keogh or HR10 plan is [...]
Posts from ‘June, 2009’
Random Thoughts and Links
Here’s an excellent blog post over on the Keener Financial blog from a colleague, Jean Keener, who is a fellow Garrett Planning Network member. This post is about 10 Tools to Build an Emergency Fund – and contains some very good tips on this important subject. Also, my friend Helen Maynard over at Affine Financial [...]
Designated Roth Account (Roth 401(k)) Distributions
In a previous post we discussed the general information surrounding Designated Roth Accounts – eligibility, tax treatment, and contributions. In this post we’ll go over the nuances involved in distributions from a Designated Roth Account under a 401(k). Distributions are a little different from most other retirement plans, as you might guess… Required Minimum Distributions [...]
What Your Employer Has in Store For Your Retirement Plan
Yesterday, I read this article in the US News & World Report on changing trends that are anticipated with employer-sponsored retirement plans. There are some good things in store, as well as some things that don’t make a lot of sense. Keep in mind this was in response to a survey from Schwab, so the [...]
Designated Roth Accounts (Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b))
Designated Roth Account A Designated Roth Account or Roth 401(k) is simply a 401(k) plan that allows employees to designate all or part of their elective deferrals as qualified Roth 401(k) contributions. Qualified Roth 401(k) contributions are made on an after-tax basis, just like Roth IRA contributions. This means that employees’ contributions and earnings are [...]
Why We Include Real Estate in Investment Portfolios
We construct portfolios out of various asset types in order to diversify, or spread out our risk associated with any one asset type. Most often these asset types include equities (stocks) and fixed income (bonds), which provide for basic diversification. Quite often we include additional asset types in order to achieve further diversification. Examples of [...]
Converting Directly From a 401(k) to a Roth IRA
Back in the olden days prior to 2008, it was against the rules to convert funds directly from a 401(k) plan (or other CODA plan, like a 403(b)) to a Roth IRA. At that time, you were required to do the “conversion two-step” wherein you would first rollover or direct-transfer your funds from the 401(k) [...]
Independent Advice for Your 401(k)? Coming Soon. Maybe.
There is a bill coming up for vote in committee (House Education and Labor Committee) soon that proposes to address the issue of independent advice for your investing activities in your 401(k) plan. I wrote about this problem a while ago: in this post here and a little bit here. The wonderfully-named Conflicted Investment Advice Prohibition [...]
The Importance of IRA Custodial Documents
Remember when you opened your IRA account? And the broker or advisor handed you that 37-page document with the custodial agreement in it? Read that cover-to-cover, dintcha? Unfortunately, too many of us don’t read these documents closely, and end up getting a big surprise later on. What sorts of surprises, you might ask…? Well, here [...]
BrightStart / Oppenheimer Update
As we previously discussed in this post, the Illinois State Treasurer, Alexi Giannoulias is taking Oppenheimer to task for it’s sins with regard to the BrightStart 529 plan, an Illinois-based college savings plan. This is in regard to Oppenheimer’s use of inappropriately risky investments in a supposedly safe, bond-oriented, allocation for the plan. Just recently, [...]
And if you've come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed "advisor's advisor".
