We have discussed in the past that it is usually better to rollover an old 401(k) plan from a former employer to an IRA – more flexibility in investments, (usually) lower costs, more control, etc., are among the chief reasons to do so. However, in some cases your old 401(k) plan may have access to [...]
Posts under ‘Early Distribution’
Mistakes With NUA
In another article on this site we discussed the concept of Net Unrealized Appreciation, or NUA for short. It’s a complicated affair, fraught with potential mistakes – several of the most important ones are listed below. Mistakes With NUA Moving too quickly – if you roll over your funds from the Qualified Retirement Plan (QRP) [...]
IRA Options for a Surviving Spouse Under Age 59 1/2
As a follow-up to an earlier article on Options For a Spousal Inherited IRA, I wanted to address the specific situation that occurs if you have inherited an IRA from your spouse and you’re under age 59½. There are a couple of choices available to you – which can pose a dilemma. As we have [...]
Eligible Rollover Distributions (ERDs)
So what funds can be rolled over from your retirement plan into another retirement plan or IRA? Interestingly, the IRS doesn’t specifically tell you what can be rolled over – but rather, what can not be rolled over. Let’s look at the definition from the IRS… Definition Only Eligible Rollover Distributions, or ERDs, can be [...]
Calculating the Social Security Retirement Benefit
There are three factors that go into determining the Social Security retirement benefit amount – your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), your FRA (Full Retirement Age), and the age you are when you start receiving benefits. We talked about the PIA here; then we talked about the FRA here. Having these two numbers, we need to [...]
Things to Consider as You Set Up a SOSEPP
So, you’ve decided that you’d like to begin taking distributions from your IRA funds – and you’re under age 59½, so you need to structure your distributions as a Series of Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SOSEPP). (For more background information on the SOSEPP, see this article.) It is important to do this right, because once [...]
The Heartbreak of Withholding From Indirect Rollovers
Taking early withdrawals from your retirement plans is rarely a good idea, and should only be considered when it’s the last possible option available to you, generally speaking. But this article is more about the pain you could experience if you don’t handle a rollover correctly – bypassing the trustee-to-trustee transfer option and going with [...]
11 Ways You Can Fund Your Roth IRA
With due regards to Natalie Choate for putting together this list initially, listed below are the currently-legal methods for funding a Roth IRA account: Contributions from compensation income. These are your regular annual contributions to the Roth IRA account. You are allowed (in 2009 and 2010) to contribute up to the lesser of your actual [...]
Options For a Spousal Inherited IRA
In these articles we’ve discussed inherited IRAs and how to handle them – but we have not covered all of the options for a Spousal Inherited IRA separately. There are some differences, specifically more options available, so this is an important topic. It should be noted that the majority of this article applies to inheriting [...]
Sam, You Made The Pants Too Short!
With apologies to the writer and performers of the original “Sam, You Made The Pants Too Long!”… This article is about what happens when your IRA declines substantially in value and you’ve put a 72t Series Of Substantially Equal Periodic Payments plan (SOSEPP) into play – and the decline in value has brought your IRA [...]
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