Fixed annuities are conservative investments. They are typically used for retirement planning, and they might also be used strictly for their tax benefits. You can use them to accumulate money, or to take income from your assets once you retire. They are very appealing to people who don’t want to lose money in the markets, […]
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What is the Retirement Age?
As you start to imagine your life without a day job, you may wonder what the retirement age is. The truth is that you can retire whenever you feel like it – the question is whether or not you can afford to retire at a particular age, given the resources available to you at that […]
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What to do With a 401(k) When Leaving a Job
When you change jobs, you have to figure out what to do with your 401(k) savings. You have several options, and each of them has advantages and disadvantages. Once you know what all the options are, choose the best one for your needs. So, what can you do with your 401(k) when you leave your […]
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What is a 401(k) Plan?
401(k) plans are employment benefits designed for saving for retirement. For some people, a 401(k) is the only retirement asset they have. Unfortunately, most people never learn how these things work from the ground up. And whenever there’s confusion about how something works, people tend to get overwhelmed and do nothing until they feel more […]
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To Accelerate, or Just to Depreciate?
Here’s a story about a little mental game I played while doing my taxes this year. I ended up doing something that might not make the most sense financially (that is, mathematically, it may not be the optimal choice), but felt like the right thing to do. Although we all do these things from time […]
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Getting a Refund? How’s it feel?
Hopefully your taxes are done by now. This time of year everybody talks about tax refunds. Whether it makes sense to get one or not, a “tax-free loan to the government”, and so on. It’s worth looking at the financial reasons for and against getting a refund. In general, you should probably try to pay […]
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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 […]
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1099-R And 401(k) Rollovers
If you rolled over a 401(k) last year, you should get a 1099-R form from your (previous) investment provider. Naturally, you’ll wonder: Has there been a mistake? Will I owe taxes on the transaction? If the rollover was processed correctly, you should not owe taxes. Are you looking for your 1099-R? If you actually want […]
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Roth 401k – What is Roth 401k?
More and more plans are offering Roth 401k. Is Roth 401k right for you? How Roth 401k Works Roth 401k is similar to a traditional 401k plan. However, your contributions go in after-tax. Therefore you don’t get a deduction (or reduce your taxable income) when you make contributions to a Roth 401k plan. Why Use […]