UNDERSTANDING THE SAME PROPERTY RULE FOR IRAS

By Sarah Brenner, JD IRA Analyst If you are planning on doing a 60-day rollover with your IRA funds, be sure you understand same-property rule. This is one of the lesser known rules that apply to rollovers and is one many taxpayers find confusing. For IRA-to-IRA or...

USING A ROTH IRA TO PAY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION? BE CAREFUL!

By Sarah Brenner, JD IRA Analyst With college costs almost certain to keep increasing each year, parents need to explore every possible tool available to meet the challenge of paying for higher education. Roth IRAs are not just for retirement savings. They can play a...

ROTH IRA: TWO CLOCKS

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Roth IRAs are extremely popular, and why wouldn’t they be? Tax-free earnings over a lifetime can add up to a serious chunk of change. However, in order to receive those tax-free earnings, rules must be followed and timeframes must...

REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS: TODAY’S SLOTT REPORT MAILBAG

By Jeremy T. Rodriguez, JD IRA Analyst Question: Good morning, We have a client that retired on 1/2/2019 and he was over 70.5.  He was not required to take his RMD in 2018 from his 401k since he was still working (he did take his 2018 RMD from his IRA).  He rolled...

AVOIDING THE EARLY DISTRIBUTION PENALTY

By Jeremy T. Rodriguez, JD IRA Analyst To discourage early access to amounts invested in IRAs and company retirement plans, the IRS imposes a 10% early distribution penalty on withdrawals before age 59 ½. Even though Roth IRAs consist of after-tax contributions, the...