IRA BLOG

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Since I retired in 2020, each year I have been converting amounts from my employer plan to my Roth IRA. I will be age 73 in 2026. Can I take my required minimum distribution (RMD) amount and convert that...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Roth IRAs follow strict distribution ordering rules. Contributions come out first, then converted dollars, and then earnings. It does not matter how many Roth IRAs a person has, or if the accounts are held at multiple custodians....

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst   The April 23, 2025, Slott Report article, “After-Tax 401(k) Contributions Shouldn’t Be an Afterthought,” discusses how 401(k) after-tax contributions can be moved into Roth accounts through in-plan Roth conversions, the “mega...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst QUESTION: My wife and I created a Roth IRA when our two children were young to pay for their college education. Our daughter is finishing her second year of school, and our son will be entering college this fall. We have withdrawn...

  By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education While most distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable, sometimes distributions can include after-tax dollars. These after-tax dollars are known as “basis.” Handling and tracking basis in your...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst When a person under the age of 59½ needs access to his IRA dollars, there is a 10% early withdrawal penalty applied to any distribution, unless an exception applies. One of the many 10% penalty exceptions is a 72(t) “series of...

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: At age 71, I’m not yet subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) from my IRA or workplace retirement accounts.  However, I am required to take annual RMDs from a pre-2020 inherited IRA and a pre-2020 inherited Roth IRA....

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education With the popularity of Roth 401(k) contributions, after-tax (non-Roth) employee contributions have gotten short shrift. But, if your plan offers them, after-tax contributions are worth considering. They can...

  By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education   The April 15 tax-filing deadline has come and gone. However, for some 2024 retirement account planning strategies, it’s not too late! There is still time beyond the April 15 deadline. Here are three...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst   Question: Are rollovers done by a spouse beneficiary subject to the once-per-year IRA rollover rule? The IRA funds were never distributed to me. They were directly transferred from my deceased husband’s IRA to my own IRA....

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst   The recent market ride has been nuts. It is certainly no fun for anyone who owns stock or stock funds. Many of us are experiencing the same sensation in our gut as when a roller coaster click, click, clicks to its apex and...

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst   In the 2022 SECURE 2.0 legislation, Congress gave the IRS two years – until December 29, 2024 – to come up with rules allowing IRA owners to fix certain mistakes through self-correction. Alas, December 29, 2024 has now come and...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst   QUESTION: A 401(k) plan participant over age 73 wants to roll over his account to a new IRA. I understand that he must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) before the rollover. Is an additional RMD required in the same...

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education   Recent turmoil in the markets has hit many retirement savers hard as they see their IRA and 401(k) balances rapidly shrinking. For many, the age-old advice to stay the course for the long term and not cash...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst   As a follow up to the March 26 Slott Report entry that included a full list of the 10% early withdrawal penalty exceptions (“10% Penalty Exceptions: IRAs and Plans”), here we get a little deeper into the weeds on some of the...

Question: My wife turns 73 years old in August 2025. My understanding is that she has until April 1, 2026, to take her first required minimum distribution (RMD), in which case she would wind up taking two RMDs in 2026. The RMD for 2025 is approximately $24,000. My...

By 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 your bankruptcy creditors. That’s because, in just about every case, all of your IRA (and Roth IRA) monies are off limits....

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education   There is still time! You can still make a prior-year (2024) IRA or Roth IRA contribution up to the tax filing due date, April 15, 2025. For most people, there is no extension beyond that date, regardless of...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: In the article “Why You Should Take Your 2025 RMD Now,” the following caught my eye … “Or, maybe you are charitably inclined and looking to satisfy your RMD by doing a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). This will...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF®IRA Analyst If a person under age 59½ takes a withdrawal from his IRA or workplace plan, there is a 10% early withdrawal penalty…unless an exception applies. There are currently 20 exceptions, with a 21st on the way. Here are those exceptions,...