Since 2002, SIMPLE IRA plans have allowed employees who reach age 50 or older by the end of the year to make “catch-up contributions” beyond the usual elective deferral limit.

When a trust is named as beneficiary of an IRA, several possible negative issues may be introduced. For example, after the death of the IRA owner, things can become more complex for the beneficiaries.

If you are thinking about doing a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) for 2025, time is running out. The deadline is December 31, 2025. Many people miss out on this valuable tax break.

In final regulations issued on September 15, 2025, the IRS confirmed that company retirement plans must comply with the SECURE 2.0 Act’s mandatory Roth catch-up rule as of January 1, 2026.

Are the current tax brackets, made “permanent” by OBBBA, really here forever?  There are a number of rules governing qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). The first of which is: To be eligible to do a QCD, a person must be age 70½ or older. 

The pro-rata rule dictates that when an IRA contains both non-deductible (after-tax) and deductible (pre-tax) funds, then each dollar withdrawn (or converted) from the IRA will contain a percentage of tax-free and taxable funds based on the ratio of after-tax funds vs. the entire balance in all your IRAs. 

You are not alone if you have concerns that your IRA or workplace plan savings could be lost if you are forced to declare bankruptcy or wind up on the losing end of a civil lawsuit.

Do you have a Roth IRA? If you do, there will very likely come a time when you want to take a distribution from that account. The distribution rules for taxation of Roth IRA distributions can be complicated, but if they are followed, the reward is tax-free withdrawals in retirement.

When you file for bankruptcy, one thing you usually don’t have to worry about is protecting your IRA funds from your bankruptcy creditors.

We continue to get lots of questions about the new “super catch-up” contribution for retirement plan and SIMPLE IRA participants who are ages 60-63.

The deadline for most retirement account owners to take their 2025 required minimum distribution (RMD) is December 31, 2025. However, there are good reasons why you should take your RMD now instead of waiting.

One of the more controversial rules in the 2022 SECURE 2.0 Act is the requirement that plan catch-up contributions by certain highly-paid employees be made on a Roth basis. Last Friday, (January 10, 2025) the IRS issued proposed regulations on the new rule.

If you have an IRA and you are approaching retirement age, you have probably heard the term “required minimum distribution” (RMD). But do you know the details of how the rules work and what they mean for you?

There is some good news for retirement savers! The IRS has released the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirement accounts for 2025, and many of the dollar limit restrictions on retirement accounts will increase next year. In addition, new rules from the SECURE 2.0 Act also will bring more savings opportunities.

The recent final required minimum distribution (RMD) regulations include a new rule change that may be beneficial for IRA owners who name trusts as beneficiaries. In the new regulations, the IRS allows separate accounting for RMD purposes for more trusts. This can be helpful when a trust has beneficiaries who can potentially have different payout periods under the RMD rules.

As retirement account questions go, this is the shortest inquiry with the longest answer. When asked what factors to consider and what 5-year clocks apply with a Roth 401(k) to Roth IRA rollover, I take a big breath and say, “Pull up a chair.” There are a number of variables to determine. Probing questions must be posed before any guidance can be given.

In 2020, the SECURE Act completely changed the game for nonspouse IRA beneficiaries. Now, most are subject to the 10-year payout rule. Recently released final RMD rules keep the controversial proposed rule that requires many beneficiaries subject to the 10-year rule to also take annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) during the 10-year period.

In the newly released final regulations, the IRS is doubling down on its position that these annual RMDs are required. They must be taken starting in 2025. However, the IRS will not impose penalties for annual RMDs that were not taken for years before 2025.

It’s been over four years since the SECURE Act upended the rules for beneficiary IRA required minimum distributions (RMDs), and there’s still plenty of confusion about the new rules. The IRS did give us proposed SECURE Act regulations in February 2022, but those rules still haven’t been finalized. They have also raised a lot of new questions.

The basics: SIMPLE plans are available for companies with 100 or fewer employees who received at least $5,000 in pay from the company in the prior year.

If you’re an IRA beneficiary subject to the 10-year payout period and would have had a 2024 required minimum distribution (RMD), you’re in luck.

The Tax Court recently ruled that the new SECURE 2.0 statute of limitations (SOL) on the 6% excess IRA contribution penalty is not retroactive.