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retirement plan

Rolling Over Your Roth 401(k)

Rolling over a Roth 401(k) can make a lot of sense. There are a couple of things to think about, but it’s a good idea most of the time.

3 Ways of Dealing Without Recharacterization

Recharacterization of a Roth conversion has been gone for quite a while now. Risk reduction is more complicated now, but still possible.

Combining IRAs with Other Retirement Plans

Do you know the rules for combining various retirement plans with one another? It’s important to know these so you don’t do it wrong.

How to Bypass Mandatory Withholding on a 401(k) Distribution

When you take a distribution from your 401(k), 20% is withheld automatically. How can you bypass this withholding?

No, You Can’t Contribute Stocks to Your IRA

Ever wonder if you could just contribute stock to your IRA? Follow along for the answer to this interesting question.

Avoiding Taxation of 401(k) Loan

What should you do if you have a 401k loan and you leave the employer? You actually have some good options available to you.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

It’s possible to accidentally pay double tax on your inherited IRA, unless you know how the IRD deduction works. This article outlines how it works – which may be important to you in the future when estate tax exemptions are reduced.

Should You Take or Postpone Your First RMD?

The first year of RMD presents a planning opportunity. What should you think about as you consider the timing of this withdrawal?

401(k) – Good For Many, But Not Necessarily the Employee

The 401(k) plan is generally seen as a good thing – promoting retirement savings and providing incentives for saving. But it’s not all good.

5 Tactics for Required Minimum Distributions

If you’ve got to take required minimum distributions, here are several options for how you should plan them.

Rolling Your IRA into a 401(k) – to Avoid RMD

One way to avoid RMD is to rollover your existing IRA into an employer’s 401(k) plan, if you’re still employed at age 72.

Post-Death Options for Directing a Retirement Plan to a Spouse

There are a few post-death options that you might be able to use to direct a retirement plan to a surviving spouse.

Mistakes With NUA

If you’re not careful there are several mistakes with NUA that can cause big problems for you. Pay attention when using NUA.

Just Starting With Retirement Savings? Get All the Credit You’re Due!

If you are saving in an employer plan or an IRA you need to check to make sure you’re getting the Saver’s Credit if you qualify.

Three Reasons You May Not Want to Convert to a Roth IRA

In today’s historically-low tax rate environment, converting money from traditional IRAs to Roth can make sense, but not always. Keep your eyes open.

Options For a Spousal Inherited IRA

What options do you have if you have a spousal inherited IRA? There are three, much better options than other non-spouse beneficiaries.

Trust Me, You’re Gonna Like This – The See-Through Trust as a Beneficiary

One area that often gets short shrift in discussions of IRAs and beneficiary designation is the use of a trust as the beneficiary. Part of the reason behind this may be the perceived complexity of trusts in general; at any rate, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, and it can be beneficial, depending upon your circumstances. We’re specifically discussing the “see-through” trust here, as this type of trust is most appropriate for IRA and Qualified Retirement Plan beneficiary designations. The See-Through Trust as a Beneficiary If you designate a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan (QRP), the trust should be set up with certain properties associated with it: the trust must be valid under the plan owner’s state’s law; the trust must be irrevocable upon the plan owner’s death; the trust beneficiaries must be identifiable; ALL of the trust beneficiaries must be individuals (cannot […]

Sam, You Made The Pants Too Short!

What can you do if your IRA has declined so much that it will no longer support your 72t payments as scheduled? You have a couple options to consider.