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IRAs
November was a good month for those who believe that the government should take over the private retirement system.Since far too many Americans continue to lack access to a retirement plan at work, state governments have been legislating retirement policy in recent years to address this significant...
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Location, location, location. It’s something of a truism about the three things that most affect property values. Apparently it also applies to retirement plan access.Using a pooled version of the 2010-14 Minnesota Population Center’s Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) Current...
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Just before Christmas, President Obama signed into law H.R. 2029, a massive year-end spending and tax bill containing a number of provisions affecting health and retirement plans. Here’s what you may have missed.H.R. 2029 — now Public Law 114-113 — includes both an omnibus appropriations bill that...
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Roth IRAs have been a popular way to generate future tax-free growth and income since their creation. Yet the decision to contribute or convert to a Roth IRA incurs an immediate tax liability that could become so heavy as to be destructive. So writes Michael Kitces in “Using Systematic Partial Roth...
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The Obama Administration recently unveiled its myRA program, a federal effort to encourage retirement savings and provide an easy, low-impact way for those who do not participate in a retirement plan to set something aside. But it’s not the first time the administration has embarked on such an...
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Several weeks back, I wrote a column entitled, “5 Things Millennials Need to Know About Saving for Retirement.” But what about those at the brink of retirement?Retirement seems close — perhaps too close for the comfort of Boomers, some of whom have already begun cycling into retirement. In fact,...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) on Nov. 16 unveiled a proposed rule to clarify ERISA's application to state-run IRA programs, creating an unfair advantage for those programs over those offered by the private sector.The proposal includes a rule modifying the payroll deduction safe harbor to allow for...
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Another bill looking to derail the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal has been introduced in Congress.This one, the Retirement Choice Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 3922), was introduced by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) — a member of the House Ways and Means Committee — with Social Security...
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The Windy City played host in the first week of November to a gathering focused on developing ideas to address America’s retirement savings challenge — but government-run solutions dominated the conversation.At the conference, “Saving — America’s Challenge and Opportunity in the Twenty-First...
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The Treasury Department has officially launched its MyRA program on a national basis, hoping to “create a savings habit that will grow,” according to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.While the Nov. 4 launch was new, the program is not. Originally unveiled in President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union...
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The Social Security Administration and the IRS have issued the Fall 2015 edition of their joint online newsletter, the SSA/IRS Reporter, This edition includes information on issues related to retirement plans and compliance.The newsletter provides links to information on the following recent...
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There’s not much time left in 2015, and that applies to more than just the calendar. It also applies to certain required minimum distributions (RMDs). The IRS issued a reminder in IR-2015-122 on Oct. 29 that those born before July 1, 1945 generally must receive payments from their IRAs by Dec. 31....
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An employer sponsor of a SIMPLE IRA plan must restore to the plan withheld contributions that never made it into the plan’s funds, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled on Sept. 9. American Materials Corp. was the plan’s sponsor and administrator, and its president, Donald J...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a new initiative in the communication “war” about its conflict of interest proposal.The DOL recently published a “Q&A on Small Savers” which leads off by stating, “Small IRA savers may not be who you think they are,” and goes on to point out that more...
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Only 22% of individuals who owned a traditional or Roth IRA took a withdrawal in 2013, a percentage largely driven by activity among individuals ages 70½ or older.According to a report by the non-partisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), 65% of the individuals who took a withdrawal were...
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The IRS has issued IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) worksheets for figuring this year’s required withdrawals from traditional IRAs. One of the worksheets concerns RMDs from traditional IRAs, and the other concerns RMDs if a spouse who is more than 10 years younger than the IRA holder is the...
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An IRA owner must calculate the required minimum distribution (RMD) separately for each IRA that he or she owns, but can withdraw the total amount from one or more of the IRAs. This is among the reminders the IRS provides regarding the rules governing RMDs.If an account owner fails to withdraw an...
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The IRS should better inform individuals about Internal Revenue Code provisions saying they must take required minimum distributions from their IRAs when they reach a certain age, says a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report.Treasury issued the report July 15. TIGTA sought to...
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Reports from the Senate Finance Committee’s five bipartisan tax working groups have been published, including policy options and recommendations on savings and investment.On Jan. 15, the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, announced that Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)...
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The June 17 Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee hearing provided ample illustration that the debate on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal is far from over. DOL Secretary Thomas E. Perez appeared before the subcommittee of the House Education and the Workforce...
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