-
Taming the tax tangle if you’re retiring soon
February 10, 2025
Categories: Retirement, RMD, Social Security
Retirement is often viewed as an opportunity to travel, spend time with family or simply enjoy the fruits of a long career. Yet the transition may bring a tangle of tax considerations. Planning carefully can help you minimize tax bills. Below are four steps to take if you’re approaching retirement, along with the tax implications. 1. Consider your post-career lifestyle Begin by assessing what retirement might look like for you. For example, will you relocate to a different state or downsize
-
Do you have questions about taking IRA withdrawals? We’ve got answers
January 27, 2025
Categories: IRA, Retirement, RMD, Secure2.0, SEP-IRA, Simple IRA
Once you reach age 73, tax law requires you to begin taking withdrawals — called Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) — from your traditional IRA, SIMPLE IRA and SEP IRA. Since funds can’t stay in these accounts indefinitely, it’s important to understand the rules behind RMDs, which can be pretty complex. Below, we address some common questions to help you navigate this process. What are the tax implications if I want to withdraw money before retirement? If you
-
Senior tax-saving alert: Make charitable donations from your IRA
December 18, 2024
Categories: AGI, charitable giving, IRA, QCD, RMD, Secure2.0
If you’ve reached age 70½, you can make cash donations directly from your IRA to IRS-approved charities. These qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) may help you gain tax advantages. QCD basics QCDs can be made from your traditional IRA(s) free of federal income tax. In contrast, other traditional IRA distributions are wholly or partially taxable, depending on whether you’ve made nondeductible contributions over the years. Unlike regular charitable donations, you can’t
-
Certain charitable donations allow you to avoid taxable IRA withdrawals
August 8, 2024
Categories: AGI, charitable giving, IRA, QCD, RMD
If you’re a philanthropic individual who is also obligated to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from a traditional IRA, you may want to consider a tax-saving strategy. It involves making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). How it works To reap the possible tax advantages of a QCD, you make a cash donation to an IRS-approved charity out of your IRA. This method of transferring IRA assets to charity leverages the QCD provision that allows IRA owners who are age 70½