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72(T) DON’TS
June 20, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The 72(t) rules (”series of substantially equal periodic payments”) allow a person to tap retirement [...]
By Sarah Brenner Director of Retirement Education Question: Ed, My mother passed away in May 2019, and I inherited her IRA. She had not [...]
WHEN THE FIVE-YEAR RULE APPLIES
June 15, 2022By Sarah Brenner Director of Retirement Education If you inherit an IRA, especially if it is a larger one, you may be afraid of being stuck with [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Those of you who participate in 401(k) plans or certain 403(b) plans should see something new on your next quarterly[...]
HOW THE SECURE ACT RMD RULES AND THE 5-YEAR HOLDING PERIOD WORK FOR INHERITED IRAS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
June 9, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Good Day, I have a client (age 65) who inherited a traditional IRA from her mother in 2020. I know [...]
ONE ROTH IRA BUCKET
June 8, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst SCENARIO: John owns multiple Roth IRAs. He believes it is necessary to maintain all these accounts to [...]
5 WAYS AN EXCESS IRA CONTRIBUTION CAN HAPPEN
June 6, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education You can have too much of a good thing. While saving for retirement with an IRA is a good [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: As we did 2 years ago, will we be able to skip taking a 2022 required minimum distribution [...]
WHEN A “REVERSE ROLLOVER” MAKES SENSE
June 1, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Usually, rollovers involving 401(k) accounts and IRAs involve moving dollars from a plan to an IRA. But sometimes it[...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I am 79 and make SEP-IRA withdrawals annually as required. I also have [...]
WATCH OUT FOR THE ONCE-PER-YEAR ROLLOVER RULE
May 24, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Why is it so important to know how the once-per-year rollover rule works? Well, that is [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Hi, I am age 50 and am targeting retirement at age 55. My current employer is selling the division [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Employees leaving their jobs are often surprised to discover they aren’t entitled to the full balance of their [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Last week in Kansas City, the Ed Slott team hosted our first in-person training program for members of our[...]
QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS & SPOUSAL BENEFICIARIES: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
May 20, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: I have a 401(k) that I'd like to use a portion for a QCD. I understand that QCD's have to be [...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The real estate market is red hot right now. This can be especially challenging for first [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Just when we thought we understood the new IRS regulations on required minimum distributions (RMDs), here comes more[...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I am 75 years old and contributing to my company’s 401(K) plan. I have not [...]
A DOZEN QCD FACTS
May 4, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) continue to gain popularity, and with that popularity comes more[...]
INVESTING YOUR IRA IN CRYPTO
May 2, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Recently, Fidelity investments made headlines by announcing that it would allow retirement [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: I’m 68 years old. I would like to start IRA withdrawals. What are the rules for withdrawing[...]
401(K), 403(B), 457(B): DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
April 27, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst There are three types of company savings plans: 401(k) plans if you work for a for-profit company; 403(b) [...]
FIRST DOLLARS OUT RULE AND THE STILL-WORKING EXCEPTION
April 25, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst For those who have 401(k)s or other employee retirement plans (but not SEP or SIMPLE plans), the required [...]
401(K) PARTIAL ROTH CONVERSIONS AND USING QCDS TO OFFSET RMDS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
April 21, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Hello, I’m learning a lot from Ed Slott’s latest book, “The New Retirement Savings Time [...]
UNDERSTANDING THE SAME PROPERTY RULE
April 20, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education For IRA-to-IRA or Roth-to-Roth 60-day rollovers, the same property received is the property [...]
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS!
April 18, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Tax Day 2022 seems like an appropriate time to review a sometimes-overlooked way to get extra dollars into your IRA [...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Hello, Client (72) has recently inherited a “Beneficiary IRA” account. [...]
LAST-MINUTE IRA TAX DEADLINES & RULES
April 13, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The deadline for filing your 2021 tax return is this Monday, April 18. It is extended through the weekend [...]
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE NEW SECURE ACT REGULATIONS
April 11, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The SECURE Act was signed into law in late December of 2019. This new law upended the rules [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: I have a non-spousal inherited IRA account. Once I take out my RMD for the year, am I able [...]
HOUSE PASSES SECURE 2.0 BILL, BUT IT’S NOT LAW YET
April 6, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst A bill designed to increase savings in IRAs and company plans has passed the House of Representatives, but it’s [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The new SECURE Act regulations, released in late February, created a firestorm of confusion and [...]
ONCE-PER-YEAR ROLLOVER RULE AND INCOME FOR ROTH IRA CONTRIBUTIONS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
March 31, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Hi, I have a client that needs funds for a short period of time, so he plans to use the 60-day [...]
THE 3 EXCEPTIONS TO THE PRO-RATA RULE THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
March 30, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Most IRA distributions will be taxable. However, if you have ever made nondeductible [...]
$1,512,350 IS THE NEW $1,362,800
March 28, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst When you file for bankruptcy, one thing you usually don’t have to worry about is protecting your IRA funds from [...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I established a Roth IRA in 2011 and needed to withdraw $ 30,000 in 2021 to pay [...]
SUCCESSOR BENEFICIARIES – “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME”
March 23, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Here we go again. In my March 14 Slott Report entry (“Monitoring Concurrent Life Expectancies? – [...]
NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR 2021 IRA CONTRIBUTION
March 21, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education It may be hard to believe it but the countdown to the 2021 tax filing deadline is on. The [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: Hey Ed- Long time reader and listener of yours…and have bought a few copies of your [...]
DECIPHERING YOUR 401(K) STATEMENT
March 16, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst With many 401(k) (and 403(b) and 457(b) plans) offering multiple participant accounts, your plan statement is [...]
“MONITORING CONCURRENT LIFE EXPECTANCIES?” - SMH
March 14, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst I am usually patient with the IRS. I understand the massive workload they have, and there are tax cheats [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Ed, I read your 2/28/22 Slott Report on the updated SECURE Act information for non-eligible [...]
SECURE ACT REGS BRING NEW ROTH IRA ADVANTAGE
March 9, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Roth IRAs have always been a great retirement savings tool. While pre-tax retirement [...]
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL PART OF THE NEW IRS REGULATIONS
March 7, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The part of the new IRS SECURE Act regulations causing the most reaction is the one requiring annual required [...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Hello. I was reading the 2/28/22 edition of the Slott Report and noticed the [...]
AGE OF MAJORITY AND THE NEW SECURE ACT REGULATIONS
March 2, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The 275 pages of proposed SECURE Act regulations, released by the IRS on February 23, are chock full of [...]
SECURE ACT REGULATIONS ARE HERE
February 28, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education On February 23, 2022, the IRS released the long-awaited proposed SECURE Act regulations. The[...]
ROTH CONVERSIONS AND SPOUSAL IRAS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
February 24, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: If an 80-year-old converts his IRA to a Roth account and dies the following year, when can [...]
ACT NOW TO CLEAN UP 2021 EXCESS 401(K) DEFERRALS
February 23, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The amount of annual pre-tax deferrals and Roth contributions you can make to a 401(k) plan is limited by the tax [...]
WHAT PROTECTION DO SPOUSES GET IN COMPANY PLANS?
February 21, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The federal ERISA law gives spouses of plan participants in ERISA-covered plans certain rights to the [...]
DIRECT ROTH CONVERSIONS AND QCDS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
February 17, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: I am 66 years old and live on Social Security and other retirement income. Additionally, I have about [...]
MAKING A SPOUSAL IRA CONTRIBUTION
February 16, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The pandemic has upended the workforce. Many workers lost jobs. Some workers resigned by [...]
HOW DOES THE IRS COMPENSATION LIMIT WORK?
February 14, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Towards the end of each year, the IRS announces cost-of-living increases for several retirement-related dollar [...]
ROTH CONVERSIONS & RMDS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
February 10, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I turn 72 this year. I am getting notices from my many IRA custodians that [...]
10% PENALTY EXCEPTIONS
February 9, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst For IRA owners and retirement plan participants who are under age 59 ½, taking a distribution from a [...]
WATCH OUT FOR THE FIVE-YEAR RULE ON CONVERTED ROTH FUNDS
February 7, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education If you are under age 59 ½ and you converted your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you will [...]
ROLLOVER TRIVIA: 5 Q&AS
January 31, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The “Martin Scenario”: Martin, age 40, has never done an IRA rollover before. He took a distribution [...]
ONCE-PER-YEAR ROLLOVER RULE AND NEW LIFE EXPECTANCY TABLE: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
January 27, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: My question relates to an IRA withdrawal that is then deposited as a Roth conversion. Will this [...]
ROLLING OVER LAST YEAR’S IRA DISTRIBUTION
January 26, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The rollover rules can be especially challenging at the end of the calendar year. If you [...]
GREAT NEWS FOR 72(T) PAYMENTS!
January 24, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst 72(t) payments have suddenly become a better deal for IRA owners and company plan participants. Also known as [...]
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Hello. Thanks in advance for fielding my question. My mother died in 2021 [...]
ONE IRA ROLLOVER PER YEAR - BASED ON DISTRIBUTIONS
January 19, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst A person is allowed only one IRA-to-IRA or Roth-IRA-to-Roth-IRA 60-day rollover per year. This 12-month [...]
WHAT TO DO IF YOU MISSED YOUR 2021 RMD
January 17, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Did you take your RMD from your IRA for 2021? Hopefully, the answer is yes because for most [...]
YOUR FIRST RMD AND SEP IRAS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
January 13, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: Hi, I turn 72 this year and have to take my first required minimum distribution (RMD). I [...]
IS IT TOO LATE TO OPEN UP A SMALL BUSINESS RETIREMENT PLAN FOR 2021?
January 12, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst As we move into 2022, small business owners may be wondering whether they still have time to establish a new [...]
QCD REMINDERS AND PITFALLS
January 10, 2022By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Less than two weeks into the new year seems like a good time to provide a few reminders and warnings when [...]
10-YEAR PAYMENT RULE AND 2022 POST-DEATH REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
January 6, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Has the IRS clarified the 10-year rule on inherited IRAs? Do you have to take RMDs each year or can you[...]
NEW 2022 IRS LIFE EXPECTANCY TABLES AVAILABLE HERE
January 5, 2022By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The IRS has released new life expectancy tables for calculating required minimum [...]
HITTING THE RESET BUTTON FOR 2022 RMDS
January 3, 2022By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Welcome to 2022! One of the big changes in the retirement account world this year will be the calculation of [...]
BUILD BACK BETTER AND THE RULE OF 55: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
December 30, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Ed, Since the Build Back Better bill is still in legislative limbo, does [...]
THE PRO-RATA RULE EXPLAINED – YOU ARE NOT GETTING DOUBLE TAXED
December 29, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst SCENARIO: Teddy, age 60, has an existing Traditional IRA with a current balance of $93,000. This is all [...]
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
December 29, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst In 2021, the Slott Report produced roughly 100 diverse retirement-related articles and answered [...]
WHAT 2022 MAY MEAN FOR YOUR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
December 27, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Pop the champagne! It is almost time to turn the page on the calendar to a new year. What [...]
5 IRA RULES FOR WHICH WE ARE THANKFUL IN 2021
December 24, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Thanksgiving 2021 is upon us. This is the time of the year when we gather together and [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: Hi Mr. Slott: I enjoy your website's very helpful information! I know that the IRS rules [...]
A LOOK BACK AT A “NORMAL” 2021
December 22, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst As 2021 draws to a close, many of us will naturally look back and try to make some sense of the past year. On the [...]
YEAR-END ESTIMATED TAX “LIFE HACK”
December 20, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst A “life hack” is any trick, shortcut or simple and clever technique for accomplishing a familiar task [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: I have a client, age 65, who passed away and left her IRA to her estate. Two nephews and a niece are [...]
ILLIQUID ASSETS AND RMDS
December 15, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Tis the season. Yes, it is the holiday season, and it is also the season to take RMDs. RMDs [...]
WHAT’S THE STATUS OF ALL THOSE CONGRESSIONAL RETIREMENT PROPOSALS?
December 13, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst During 2021, Congress has taken up a number of different retirement proposals, and it’s been difficult to keep [...]
INHERITED IRAS AND SPOUSAL ROLLOVERS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
December 9, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: If the owner of an inherited IRA was required to take RMDs from the IRA prior [...]
EXCEPTIONS TO THE PRO-RATA RULE – WAYS TO “ISOLATE BASIS”
December 8, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst My November 29 Slott Report entry was titled “The Pro-Rata Rule Explained – You are Not Getting Taxed [...]
PROCEED WITH CAUTION WHEN INVESTING YOUR IRA IN GOLD
December 6, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education In volatile times like these, when inflation is looming, retirement savers may look to [...]
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: Good afternoon, Mr. Slott. I am trying to complete my taxes for last year, and the tax agent [...]
HOW GOVERNMENTAL 457(B) PLANS DIFFER FROM TOP HAT 457(B) PLANS
December 1, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Many sections of the tax code are confusing, but section 457(b) is one of the major offenders. Within that section [...]
12/31/21 DEADLINE MAY LOOM FOR STARTING NEW SOLO 401(K) PLAN
November 22, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Are you considering opening up a new solo 401(k) and looking to maximize your 2021 contribution? If so, you may need[...]
RMD RULES AND ROTH CONVERSIONS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
November 18, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Can someone take an in-service withdrawal from their 401(k) and directly [...]
RESTORATIVE PAYMENTS
November 17, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst As we careen into the holiday season, there remains a deceitful underbelly of dirtbags operating their [...]
BIGGER 401(K) CONTRIBUTIONS COMING IN 2022
November 15, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The IRS has released the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirement accounts for [...]
CALCULATING YOUR RMD & ROTH CONVERSIONS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
November 11, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: When calculating my required minimum distribution (RMD) amount, is my Roth IRA balance added [...]
THE 401(K) HARDSHIP WITHDRAWAL RULES IN A NUTSHELL
November 10, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The September 29, 2021 Slott Report summarized the rules for taking non-hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. This[...]
CLARIFYING SOME ROTH CONVERSION MISCONCEPTIONS
November 8, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst As Roth IRA conversions become more popular, questions and misconceptions abound. In no particular order, [...]
ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO DO A SPOUSAL ROLLOVER
November 1, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst As discussed in the October 18 Slott Report, spousal beneficiaries of IRAs can take advantage of certain payout [...]
THE ONCE-PER-YEAR ROLLOVER RULE AND THE RECENT PROPOSALS BY CONGRESS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
October 28, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: I have four IRAs. Does the once-per-year IRA rollover rule mean I can only take[...]
PERSEVERE, CHARLIE BROWN!
October 27, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Charlie Brown, wearing a ghost costume full of too many eye holes cut in all the wrong spots, famously [...]
RETIREMENT PLANNING FOR THE SELF EMPLOYED
October 25, 2021By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Not everyone has a boss. In an economy upended by COVID, individuals, sometimes by choice [...]
72(T) PAYMENTS AND INHERITED IRAS: TODAY'S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG
October 21, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: My situation is as follows: I am 56 years old and have an IRA which I have been taking [...]
ARE YOUR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS PROTECTED FROM CREDITORS?
October 20, 2021By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst One question that continues to come up is whether company retirement plan dollars are protected from creditors. This[...]
SPOUSE AS IRA BENEFICIARY
October 18, 2021By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst When a married IRA owner dies, the surviving spouse is oftentimes the beneficiary. Of course, there are [...]
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: I am retired and turned 72 in September, 2021, so I must begin required beginning distributions (RMDs) [...]
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