By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Question: My brother died in 2020 and made me the beneficiary of an IRA he inherited from my sister who died in 2017. Can I continue to stretch the payments from this inherited IRA? If not, how soon do I have to empty it?  Thanks, Dave Answer: Hi Dave, It sounds like you are a successor beneficiary on this inherited IRA. Your brother was the original beneficiary, and he would have been eligible to use the stretch. You inherited after the SECURE Act, so as a successor beneficiary you are subject to t ..read more

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport The cost of healthcare continues to climb. Are you frustrated with higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs? You are not alone. You may be looking for new strategies to handle these expenses. If you have not considered a Health Savings Account (HSA) before, now may be the time. Here are 3 questions to ask to determine if an HSA is right for you. 1: Who is eligible to have HSA? To be eligible to make an HSA contribution, under the current rules you must be covered by a high deductible health plan (HDHP ..read more

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Question: Can you please clarify a question I have about whether I should take a Roth IRA withdrawal?  I am much older than age 59 ½, and my first Roth IRA was opened over 20 years ago. I now own a second Roth which holds recently converted funds from my 403(b) account. I am planning to make added Roth conversions over the next couple of years and pay the tax on these conversions. If I make a subsequent withdrawal from my Roth IRA, will it be tax- and penalty-free? I think so from what I have read, given my age a ..read more

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport 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. In IRS Notice 2024-35, issued yesterday (April 16), the IRS said it would excuse those RMDs. The SECURE Act provided that most non-spouse beneficiaries of IRA owners (or plan participants) who died in 2020 or later could no longer stretch RMDs over their lifetime. Instead, these “non-eligible designated beneficiaries” became subject to a 10-year payment rule. In its proposed ..read more

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport You have carefully saved for retirement and now you have accumulated a substantial amount of funds in your IRA.  At some point the funds that you have been putting away for years must come out. When you reach age 73 you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) for that year and for every year thereafter. You may be concerned about the tax hit that the RMD will bring. Besides the RMD itself being taxed, there is a ripple effect when an RMD is taken. An RMD is included in income for the year i ..read more

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Imagine walking through a grocery store, intent on purchasing a specific item. As you turn down an aisle, little colorful tags proclaiming “Special Deal” and “Buy 1, Get 1” protrude from each shelf. In anticipation of your item being offered at a discounted price, you get a little bounce in your step. Sure enough, as you reach the section that displays the one product you came here to buy, the tag says, “On Sale.” Jackpot! And if this is a non-perishable item that can be safely stored at home or frozen, there is a g ..read more

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport If you exceeded the 2023 limit for 401(k) deferrals, time is of the essence to correct the error. If you don’t act quickly, the tax consequences can be serious. The maximum amount of pre-tax and Roth contributions you could make for 2023 was $22,500 (plus $7,500 more if you were least age 50). In applying that limit, contributions you make to ALL plans are combined. (There’s an exception if you participate in both a 401(k) plan and 457(b) plan.) Most plans have internal controls to prevent you from exceeding the deferral limit ..read more

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Question: I have a general question regarding the 10-year time frame for emptying an inherited IRA. Your guidance says that the deadline is the END of the tenth year following death. In this specific situation, the death occurred July 9, 2020, so I believe the deadline is December 31, 2030, the end of the tenth year. I have seen some articles indicating that it is exactly 10 years later (July 9, 2030 in this case), rather than the end of the tenth year. Would you please clarify this question for me? Tha ..read more

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Markets continue to climb. That is good news for your retirement account. However, there is a downside. When you contribute to a traditional IRA or a pre-tax 401(k), you make a deal with Uncle Sam. You can get a tax deduction and tax deferral on any earnings in your account. However, eventually the government is going to want its share and will require funds to come out of these accounts. That is when you must start required minimum distributions (RMDs). You may not need the money, and you may not want t ..read more

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport ‘Tis the season for identifying and correcting excess IRA contributions. It seems as if every other recent inquiry is about this subject. To keep readers on the straight and narrow, here are ten details about excess IRA contributions and the correction process… 1. Excess contributions occur for many reasons, including exceeding the annual IRA contribution limit, making a contribution without eligible compensation, exceeding the Roth IRA phase-out limits, rolling over ineligible dollars (like a required minimum dist ..read more