Want to be a smart investor? The Investment Company Institute’s recently released The IRA Investor Profile might show the way. It shows that Roth IRA investors in particular are doing a great job – it seems that they focus on all the right things. Possibly the most important factor in your retirement is behavior: what […]
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Roth, Traditional, and Your Social Security
As you save for retirement you can choose between Roth and Traditional accounts. You’ve probably already decided what’s best based on your future tax rates, but did you look at how your choice affects your Social Security income? Assuming you get anything, your Social Security benefits might be taxable, depending in part on whether you […]
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Save for College or Retirement? Keep Your Options Open
Saving for retirement is difficult. So is funding a child’s education. If you’re trying to do both, you’ve got your work cut out for you. So how can you approach this challenge? The best way to do it is to save what you can while keeping your options open. It would be great if you […]
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The Absolute Minimum You Should Know About IRAs
A recent study from TIAA-CREF reveals that people don’t really know what IRAs are or how they work. As a result, people miss out on the opportunity to use these retirement planning tools (the other reason they don’t use them is that they don’t have enough money to contribute, but that’s another topic). So, let’s […]
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Roth Conversion – An Opportunity?
Ever since 2010, more and more people can make Roth IRA conversions. Previously, these people were unable to do so because they made more than $100,000 per year. However, lawmakers have temporarily removed this restriction. Some view this as a fantastic opportunity. Is it? Based on the hype, it’s hard to think otherwise. There are […]
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1099R And Roth Distributions
One of the advantages of a Roth IRA is that you can take your contributions back without owing taxes. In other words, if you put $2000 into a Roth IRA and it grows to $3000 in value, you can generally take $2000 back out of the account without tax consequences. Roth 1099R – Only Taking […]