One advantage of inheriting an IRA from your spouse is that you’re entitled to transfer the funds to a spousal rollover IRA. The rollover IRA is treated as your own IRA for tax purposes, which means you need not begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) until you reach age 72. This differs from an IRA
IRA Archives - Crawford Ellenbogen
Apr 15, 2021
What happens if your spouse fails to designate you as beneficiary of his or her IRA?
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
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Mar 24, 2021
Didn’t contribute to an IRA last year? There still may be time
- By Victor Dozzi
- Taxes
- 0 Comments
If you’re getting ready to file your 2020 tax return, and your tax bill is higher than you’d like, there might still be an opportunity to lower it. If you qualify, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA right up until the April 15, 2021 filing date and benefit from the tax
Feb 18, 2021
2021 individual taxes: Answers to your questions about limits
- By Victor Dozzi
- Taxes
- 0 Comments
Many people are more concerned about their 2020 tax bills right now than they are about their 2021 tax situations. That’s understandable because your 2020 individual tax return is due to be filed in less than three months (unless you file an extension). However, it’s a good idea to acquaint yourself with tax amounts that
May 20, 2020
IRA account value down? It might be a good time for a Roth conversion
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Financial Planning
- 0 Comments
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused the value of some retirement accounts to decrease because of the stock market downturn. But if you have a traditional IRA, this downturn may provide a valuable opportunity: It may allow you to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at a lower tax cost. The key differences
Feb 13, 2020
Oct 16, 2019
Is a self-directed IRA right for you?
- By Ellenbogen
- Estate, Financial Planning
- 0 Comments
Traditional and Roth IRAs can be powerful estate planning tools. With a “self-directed” IRA, you may be able to amp up the benefits of these tools by enabling them to hold nontraditional investments that offer potentially greater returns. Self-directed IRAs offer the same estate planning benefits as traditional IRAs, but they allow you to transfer
Aug 22, 2019
Taking distributions from your traditional IRA
- By Ellenbogen
- Retirement, Taxes
- 0 Comments
If you’re like many people, you’ve worked hard to accumulate a large nest egg in your traditional IRA (or a SEP-IRA). It’s critical to carefully plan for withdrawals. For example, if you need to take money out of your traditional IRA before age 59-1/2, the distribution will generally be taxable. In addition, distributions before age
Apr 11, 2019
Properly funding your revocable trust is the key to unlocking its benefits
- By Ellenbogen
- Estate, Trusts
- 0 Comments
If your estate plan includes a revocable trust (also known as a “living” trust), it’s critical to ensure that the trust is properly funded. Revocable trusts offer significant benefits, including probate avoidance. But these benefits aren’t available if you don’t fund the trust. Funding a living trust is a simple matter of transferring ownership of
Apr 3, 2019
Still working after age 70½? You may not have to begin 401(k) withdrawals
- By Ellenbogen
- Financial Planning, Retirement, Taxes
- 0 Comments
If you participate in a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), you must generally begin taking required withdrawals from the plan no later than April 1 of the year after which you turn age 70½. However, there’s an exception that applies to certain plan participants who are still working for the entire year in