An Inherited IRA Faux Pas

December 24, 2012

The title I was using as I wrote the first draft of this article was “Poop Happens.” It was recommended to me by my puppy as he heard me tell my wife the story of  IRA paperwork gone bad. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Early this year, a friend of a friend passed away. […]

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Roth Conversion Math Fail

October 17, 2012

When writing on such an important and misunderstood topic such as IRAs and Conversions to Roth, I believe that authors need to spell out very clearly what they mean. If the reader misunderstands the intent of an article due to some ambiguous writing, the author may just as well have gotten his facts wrong. In […]

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Undoing that Conversion

October 11, 2012

Early on, we discussed the Roth IRA Conversion, and soon after, the Roth IRA Recharacterization. It’s important that you know the deadline to recharacterize any conversion you made in 2011 is fast approaching. Monday October 15th is the deadline, and if for whatever reason you with to take a do-over on any or all of […]

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The Phantom Couple’s Tax Rate Zone

October 3, 2012

Last week’s Phantom Tax Zone Article was well received. It showed how the phasing in of Social Security taxation can create a phantom 46.25% for a single retiree with $34K in pension income or 401(k) / Traditional IRA withdrawals. Crazy stuff, but knowledge is power, and some planning is in order. Today, let’s look at […]

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The Phantom Tax Rate Zone

September 25, 2012

In my last article, I wrote about Topping off your bracket with a Roth Conversion. Even as I posted it, I realized I missed a pretty large issue. You see, your Social Security benefits may be taxable if you: file a federal tax return as an “individual” and your combined income*is between $25,000 and $34,000, […]

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Topping off your bracket with a Roth Conversion

September 19, 2012

Today, let’s look at one of the strategies where a Roth conversion makes good sense. You are single, retired, and currently taking your required minimum distributions. You find that your taxable income puts you at a marginal 15%. Back to the tax table – Single Taxable income is over But not over The tax is […]

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