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Articles
HOW ARE ANNUAL RMDS IN THE 10-YEAR PERIOD CALCULATED?
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...
Weekly Market Commentary
It was a very busy week on Wall Street as investors seemed inclined to rotate out of Mega-cap tech and into this year’s laggards. A failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday in Pennsylvania only bolstered his chances for reelection...
ROTH CONVERSIONS AND SIMPLE IRA RMDS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
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...
PART 1: INHERITED ROTH IRA BY NON-SPOUSE BENEFICIARY – 5-YEAR CLOCK ISSUES?
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...
IRS “HYPOTHETICAL RMD RULE” PREVENTS SURVIVING SPOUSES FROM AVOIDING RMDS
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...
INHERITED ROTH IRAS AND QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
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...
12 QCD RULES YOU MUST KNOW
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...
EXCESS CONTRIBUTION FIX: SAME IRA, DIFFERENT DOLLARS
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...
7 Key Factors That Could Affect How Long You’re Retired
Planning for retirement is hard for many reasons, including the challenge of answering one key question: Just how long will I be retired? Knowing how much time you’ll have to enjoy your golden years is paramount to budgeting; after all, you can’t determine how much...
IRS GIVES GUIDANCE ON PENALTY-FREE WITHDRAWALS FOR FINANCIAL EMERGENCIES AND FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE
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...