A Roth to Reduce Estate Size?

April 18, 2012

Dave (sorry, one book per guest) asked Are Roth conversions advisable for retired people as a way to reduce estate size? Hmm, excellent question. Since the estate exemption (In 2012 $5.125M) tends to be a moving target, let’s look at number based on $1M exemption. Along with this, let’s assume a 50% estate tax. An […]

Read the full article →

A Roth IRA roundup

April 15, 2012

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 savings is just one aspect of your financial life. So, it’s pretty amazing that the discussion of […]

Read the full article →

The Density of Your IRA

April 13, 2012

Density of a retirement account? Have I gone off the deep end? Maybe, but let me explain, then decide. I wrote about time not being a factor in whether the Roth or Traditional IRA was a better account, and showed with an example how the results were identical if we start with the same sum […]

Read the full article →

Does Time Matter When Choosing the Type of IRA?

April 11, 2012

Queue up the Stones…. “Time is on my side, yes it is.” But, is it? If we freeze all other variables, that is, we’ll assume that your marginal rate is the same on the deposit and on the withdrawal. And for easy math, we’ll assume the 25% rate. If we start with $1000 in our […]

Read the full article →

When is the Roth a Loser?

April 9, 2012

Honolulu Aunty asks “Besides the limits of contributing based on income and the maximum direct contribution of $6000 per year (which can be overcome with different strategies), what do you see are the drawbacks or negatives of funding and maintaining a Roth IRA?” Thanks for the question, your copy of Ed Slott’s The Retirement Savings […]

Read the full article →

The 401(k) to Roth IRA Fail

April 7, 2012

Just because a certain transaction is allowed doesn’t mean it’s always a good idea. For instance, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 added the ability to convert a 401(k) from a previous employer to a Roth IRA. Before that, the only option was to convert first to a Traditional IRA, and as you may recall, […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →