Ed Slott, a certified public accountant, is a financial expert specializing in retirement planning, IRAs and tax issues. He created the IRA Leadership Program and Ed Slott's Elite IRA Advisor Group. X: @theslottreport
Spoiler spoiler: Financial advisers must ensure that clients' IRA accounts will be shielded from bankruptcy court dunners.
Custodian's error almost ruined client's retirement and still cost her $10,000 in IRS fees.
With tax issue settled, it's time for financial advisers to help clients re-evaluate their plans
In September, the SEC issued an investor alert warning investors to be wary of fraudulent promoters targeting self-directed IRAs
In a recent private-letter ruling (PLR 201116005), the Internal Revenue Service allowed a disabled beneficiary to transfer his share of two inherited individual retirement accounts to a special-needs trust of which he was the beneficiary
Recent market volatility exposed a basic misunderstanding by financial advisers and even certified public accountants of the mechanics of undoing Roth conversions, a process called a Roth re-characterization
When clients withdraw money from an individual retirement account or employer retirement plan and want to move those funds to another retirement account, they must roll over those funds within 60 days of the date that they received the distribution from the plan or IRA
In a recent case (Cajun Industries LLC v. Robert Kidder, et al.), the court ruled that despite having previously named his three children as beneficiaries of his 401(k) plan, a deceased plan participant's 401(k) balance will pass to his new wife
Get ready for an avalanche of Form 8606 questions
Last year, many financial advisers worked with clients to implement Roth conversions
The Tax Relief Act of 2010 includes an extension of the qualified-charitable-distribution provision retroactive from Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011
The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 includes a provision that allows certain 401(k) and 403(b) participants to convert their plan funds to a Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b) within the plan
When the Internal Revenue Service names a transaction “Robs,” that can't be good.
The Roth recharacterization provides one of the few second chances in the tax code. In essence, it's a do-over.
If your client wants to convert his or her individual retirement account to a Roth IRA this year but doesn't have cash from non-IRA sources to pay the tax on the conversion, consider looking at his or her capital assets.
There is a downside to a Roth IRA conversion. Whether clients pay tax for 2010 or spread the tax burden between 2011 and 2012, they'll still owe income tax on the pretax money they move from a traditional individual retirement account or company plan to a Roth IRA.
