Congress gives a holiday gift in favorable tax provisions

Congress gives a holiday gift in favorable tax provisions

As part of a year-end budget bill, Congress just passed a package of tax provisions that will provide savings for some taxpayers. The White House has announced that President Trump will sign the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 into law. It also...
Taking distributions from your traditional IRA

Taking distributions from your traditional IRA

If you’re like many people, you’ve worked hard to accumulate a large nest egg in your traditional IRA (including a SEP-IRA). It’s even more critical to carefully plan for withdrawals from these retirement-savings vehicles. Knowing the fine points of the IRA...
You still have time to make 2017 IRA contributions

You still have time to make 2017 IRA contributions

Tax-advantaged retirement plans like IRAs allow your money to grow tax-deferred — or, in the case of Roth accounts, tax-free. The deadline for 2017 IRA contributions is April 17, 2018. Deductible contributions will lower your 2017 tax bill, but even nondeductible...
Two Five-Year Tests for Roth IRA owners

Two Five-Year Tests for Roth IRA owners

The pros and cons of Roth IRAs, which were introduced 20 years ago, are well understood. All money flowing into a Roth IRA is after-tax, so there is no upfront tax benefit. As a tradeoff, all qualified Roth IRA distributions can be tax-free, including the parts of the...
You may need to add RMDs to your year-end to-do list

You may need to add RMDs to your year-end to-do list

As the end of the year approaches, most of us have a lot of things on our to-do lists, from gift shopping to donating to our favorite charities to making New Year’s Eve plans. For taxpayers “of a certain age” with a tax-advantaged retirement account, as well as...