Retirement Watch Weekly
How to be Sure Your Roth IRA Distributions are Tax Free
The general rule is that distributions from a Roth IRA are tax free to both the original account owner and beneficiaries who inherit. But this is the tax law, so there are exceptions that could make a Roth IRA distribution taxable. Roth IRA owners must be aware of the five-year rule. In fact, details about […]
What You Should Know About Family Limited Partnerships
The family limited partnership (FLP) is a favorite tool of many estate planners. But it isn’t appropriate for every estate, and precautions are in order when it is appropriate. FLPs became a popular tool when the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption was much lower, and many more people had to worry about estate taxes. […]
Simple Strategies for Effective Estate Planning
Estate planning can be much easier than people realize, and simpler than many estate planners make it. Too often, people delay creating or updating their estate plans to avoid confusion about a potentially steep learning curve for novel terms and strategies. Fortunately, few of us need to learn about grantor-retained annuity trusts, intentionally defective trusts, […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/25
IRA Heirs Can Delay RMDs Another Year, But Should They? The IRS announced that in 2024, for the fourth consecutive year, IRA beneficiaries don’t have to take the annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) described in the proposed regulations interpreting the 10-year rule of the SECURE Act. Recall that in late 2019, the Setting Every Community […]
How To Make Your Home Equity a Retirement Asset
The residence usually is one of the most valuable assets retirees own. It also is one of the worst-managed assets. Few people realize the home can be used to increase retirement cash flow or know how to do so efficiently. In the past issues of Retirement Watch, we’ve gone over reverse mortgages and issues related […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/18
Advance Indicators of Recessions Reverse Course The most-cited advance indicators of recessions recently became less gloomy after months of indicating a recession was imminent. The prominent Leading Economic Index from The Conference Board declined for 23 consecutive months, causing The Conference Board to warn for most of the last two years that a mild recession […]
Must-Take Retirement Finance Actions for the Rest of 2024
In my new Retirement Watch Spotlight Series, I’ll share my newest breakthrough strategies for protecting your assets and growing your portfolio, including how to prepare for the next market downturn. Click here now to learn more. […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/11
Why the Economy is Harder to Read It’s no surprise that many economists, analysts and investors misread the economy the last few years, as did the Federal Reserve. There are good reasons for this. One problem that’s becoming worse is data collection. A good portion of the economic data released each month comes from surveys […]
