Mon, November 16, 2009
Construction-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar recently announced its willingness to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of charging excessive fees in four of its employee 401(k) plans. Read the full article
Tue, October 27, 2009
Under the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for 2009 from IRAs were waived. People who inadvertently received a distribution were confused about their options, but the IRS has issued clarifying guidance. Read the full article
Fri, October 16, 2009
Despite a decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), major retirement plan limits remain unchanged. Read the full article
Fri, September 04, 2009
Each year, contribution limits on 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement plans are adjusted to keep up with inflation. However, because of a quirk in the rules that define how limits on 401(k) and pension plan contributions are calculated, it’s possible that 2010 limits on these plans could actually decline from current levels. Read the full article
Wed, September 02, 2009
About 50 million people own 401(k)-type retirement plans, and the percentage of workers with defined-benefit (pension) plans has been dwindling for years. One problem with 401(k) plans is that many plans don’t disclose their fees openly. That would change if Congress moves forward with a bill currently awaiting action in the House of Representatives. Read the full article
Fri, August 28, 2009
SIMPLE IRA plans give small employers an easy way to make employer matching contributions to an employee's retirement plan. The administration of these plans is much simpler for employers than most other retirement plans, but SIMPLE IRAs involve twists and turns that can be confusing for the employees who own the accounts. Read the full article
Fri, August 21, 2009
The coming change in Roth IRA conversion rules has been discussed (seemingly) endlessly in the financial planning community, especially lately. What follows is a short summary of how the conversion laws will change. In future posts, I'll write more about the considerations that should go into a Roth IRA conversion decision. Read the full article
Mon, July 27, 2009
Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research recently released a brief that examines whether people nearing retirement should pay down their mortgages.
Read the full article
Mon, June 01, 2009
Each year the trustees of the Social Security/Medicare trusts are required to report on the status of the trust funds. Last month, having included the effects of the recession in their projections, they released a new report. The news is not good.
Read the full article
Wed, May 06, 2009
College graduation season, which lasts for several weeks, is upon us here in the Boston area. According to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), graduating seniors with educational debts carry an average debt load on the order of $20,000. More and more, college students are beginning their working lives with fairly heavy debt loads. It's more important than ever for newly-minted grads to hit the ground running with a plan for their finances.
Read the full article
Mon, April 06, 2009
Many employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plans, including 401(k)s, offer a unique investment option called a "stable value" fund. If you've invested in such a fund, you should take a close look at what's inside; its value might not be as stable as you think. Read the full article
Sat, April 04, 2009
If you haven’t yet made a 2008 contribution to an IRA or Roth IRA, remember that you must do so before April 15th. You can contribute as much as $5,000 to an IRA for 2008 provided you qualify, and you can contribute an additional $1,000 if you turned 50 during 2008. Permitted contributions are limited to the lesser of your compensation or the contribution limit that applies to your age and Modified Adjusted Gross Income status. Read the full article
Wed, February 25, 2009
With little fanfare, S.B No. 2729 (the "Act Relative To Equitable Coverage For Annuity Policies") went into effect on January 1, 2009. The law requires that all annuities sold to Massachusetts residents be gender-neutral in all aspects, including premiums and benefits. Read the full article
Tue, February 10, 2009
Just before Christmas of 2008, the president signed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The bill suspended 2009 Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s. Read the full article
Wed, December 10, 2008
Back in October, some influential members of the House of Representatives held hearings to discuss overhauling the 401(k) retirement plan system. Soon thereafter, talk radio, the blogosphere, and even the generally-sober Wall Street Journal erupted with dark warnings of a plot afoot to “nationalize” or “confiscate” everyone's 401(k) plans and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
Read the full article
Wed, December 03, 2008
A comment that I've heard several times in the last few weeks is, "I took a look at my 401(k)/mutual fund statement and it was really depressing." Well, take heart: at least you're not down by eight billion dollars.... Read the full article
Wed, November 26, 2008
In my earlier post on Roth IRA conversions, I noted that if you converted an IRA into a Roth earlier this year it may make sense to recharacterize the funds if the value of your account has slumped and you still owe taxes on the earlier, larger conversion amount. I also stated that you can’t go back this year and do another conversion. However, I realized that there is a way to sort of do a conversion/recharacterization/reconversion. Read the full article
Mon, November 17, 2008
With stock market indices down 30% or more from their January 1st levels, most investors are battered, bruised, and hoping for happier times. In the midst of a generally depressed stock market, there are still a couple of clever ways to make the most of a bad situation using a Roth IRA. Read the full article
Tue, November 11, 2008
Last week, financial journalist and author Jane Bryant Quinn polled several members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) for our opinions on whether it's still a good idea to have stocks in a retirement portfolio. The consensus? In a word, "yes." Read the full article
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