Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
The Internal Revenue Service has issued 2014-54 to simplify the process for 401(k) participants who convert their after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA, according to this article in The New York Times. Retirement savers who have substantial after-tax contributions can benefit from the new rules, while others can consider making such contributions to "super-fund" a Roth IRA, an expert says. 401(k) participants' after-tax contributions are not subject to contribution limits while income limits also don't apply to those who are funding a Roth IRA, she explains. –The New York Times
Couples who need to start taking required minimum distributions from retirement accounts have to compute their RMDs separately even if they are joint tax filers because they own these accounts individually, according to this article on Kiplinger. When taking RMDs, they need to understand that the rules differ on IRAs, 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans. For instance, traditional IRA rules require clients with multiple IRAs to determine the RMD for each account but can withdraw their overall RMD from one of the accounts, while retirees have to compute the RMD for a 401(k) plan and withdraw the amount from the same plan. –Kiplinger
Clients who are in early 20s and want to engage in retirement investing are advised to start with a Roth since they are in a lower tax bracket, says Michael Fein, president of financial advisory firm CIC Wealth. Since Roth IRA contributions are after-taxed and have much time to grow tax-free, young clients can expert considerable assets when they retire and start withdrawals, which will not be subject to tax, Fein says. Also, "Roth has more flexibility than a regular IRA” because they won't face any penalty for early withdrawals. –Time Money
Retirement investors need not panic and should avoid making decisions when markets dwindle and the cause is not "an identifiable geopolitical or economic event," according to this article on MarketWatch. Such market declines result from frantic actions based on short-term speculations, and market prospects look bright because of positive indicators, such as high corporate profits, rising home prices and low inflation. –MarketWatch
Retirees who opted to collect their Social Security benefits early are allowed to suspend their benefits when they reach their full retirement age, according to this article on Forbes. They also have the option to restart the benefits before they turn 70, at which the benefits will automatically resume if they decide to suspend the benefits until that age. –Forbes
Read More:
