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How Much to Save in a Roth Account?
Today, we have a question, and our first winner of Ed Slott’s The Retirement Savings Time Bomb. Dave asks “Is there a rule of thumb about what percentage of your savings should be in Roth accounts to...
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The Kiddie Roth
The Kiddie Roth is not an official IRA term. It’s my way of highlighting one of the uses for the Roth Ira that I will call a “no-brainer.” You see, unlike the Kiddie Tax, which limits how much...
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A Roth IRA roundup
Time for a roundup. Keep in mind, as I mentioned at the launch of this site, the Roth IRA was introduced in 1998, 14 years ago, and is just one choice for holding your retirement assets. And retirement...
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The Roth IRA Two-Step
As I last wrote, the ability to deposit money into a Roth IRA is phased out if you are single with a MAGI of $125,000, or married with a MAGI $183,000. However, all is not lost. The rules for...
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The Roth IRA’s Evolution
As investors, our needs change and our financial situation evolves with each phase of our life. Today, I’d like to look at six stages of your life and how Roth fits into each. Let’s start at the very...
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IRS Cracking Down On Retirement Account Errors
The Wall Street Journal article IRA Rules Get Trickier certainly caught my attention. Were the already too-convoluted rules getting even trickier? Not really, as the title of this article confirms, the...
View ArticleTopping off your bracket with a Roth Conversion
Today, let’s look at one of the strategies where a Roth conversion makes good sense. You are single, retired, and currently taking your required minimum distributions. You find that your taxable income...
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The Phantom Tax Rate Zone
In my last article, I wrote about Topping off your bracket with a Roth Conversion. Even as I posted it, I realized I missed a pretty large issue. You see, your Social Security benefits may be taxable...
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The Phantom Couple’s Tax Rate Zone
Last week’s Phantom Tax Zone Article was well received. It showed how the phasing in of Social Security taxation can create a phantom 46.25% for a single retiree with $34K in pension income or 401(k) /...
View ArticleDid you convert to Roth in 2010?
Normally, when you convert any retirement money to a Roth IRA, the tax is calculated and due for that tax year. 2010 was a special year. It was in 2010 that the Roth conversion cap of $100K adjusted...
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