In today’s employment environment, it is more important than ever for employers to provide incentives to retain employees. One such benefit can be found in retirement plan offerings. There are several types of retirement plan options available to small businesses. While the same plan is not necessarily perfect for every company – the size and ownership structure of the company can help inform business owners’ decision as to which plan to offer.
If you have reached age 70½ and are evaluating charitable giving options, you may consider making a charitable donation directly from your IRA.
Contributions made directly from your IRA to a charity reduce the taxable portion of your IRA distributions and count toward your annual required minimum distribution (RMD).
The Secure Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) was signed into law on Friday, December 20 2019. Below please find some of the more important highlights of the new law. TD Ameritrade is working on accommodating the new rules with systems and internal process updates as they become effective January 1, 2020.
When you have a job change or are facing retirement there are a number of decisions that need to be made. One of the more significant ones is what to do with your 401(k). The choice may seem straight-forward but it is anything but. When making this decision it is critical to weigh in all the factors to your decision.
Many believe that their money is locked in when you are a participant in a 401(k) or profit sharing plan through an employer where you are a participating and current employee. However, certain qualifying events allow employees to access their vested balance to either withdraw and/or roll over money from those accounts and still continue to contribute.
What happens to your Retirement account if you pass away? Retirement accounts offer an advantage in the way they can be passed to your beneficiaries without a costly Trust or extensive Probate of your estate. A beneficiary designation allows you to allocate your hard earned savings to your loved ones in any manner you choose. But, there are pitfalls that should be avoided when designating beneficiaries.
The period between Thanksgiving and the end-of-year holiday season would seem like a sleepy time for financial planners, but in fact it is anything but. You might be surprised at how much activity takes place on behalf of you and your investments in the final month of the year.
For instance? Even though this has been a good year in the markets, not all investments will have gained value. This is the last opportunity to harvest any losses we find in taxable accounts, by selling investments that have gone down and “booking” the loss. Then we can look for investments that have gained value, sell some of those to offset the losses, and thereby save capital gains taxes in the future. Up to $3,000 of ordinary income can be offset by investment losses as well.
This is also the time of year when mutual fund companies post, in advance, the amount of ordinary income and capital gain distributions they will make to their shareholders. Since the value of the shares drops by the amount that is distributed, this would seem like a non-event performance-wise. But in fact some mutual funds are poised to make 20% or even 30% distributions, and this cash is immediately taxable, unlike gains in the share values, which are only realized when you decide to sell. By selling funds before the distributions, and buying them back later, we can reduce your tax bill this year.
1. Pay Yourself First
The utilization of company retirement plans (401-k's and Simple IRA's) are the easiest way to build up tax advantaged assets for your retirement goals. Verify that you are contributing the amount required in order to maximize the employer's match. Above that amount it would usually be prudent to try to contribute the maximum amount possible in order to minimize your income tax liability.
