U.S. equity markets were little changed for the week; that said, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were able to forge another set of all-time highs. A busy Q2 earnings calendar saw 12% of the S&P 500 report earnings. Earnings from several large banks came in better than...
Retirement is a series of milestones that arrive as you age. Here are the ones you should know about. The retirement clock doesn’t start the day you stop working. It’s better to think of this period of your life as a range of important dates and milestones...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: I have a client who died last month. She would have been age 83 this year. She had an IRA. Her husband, age 87, was the beneficiary of the IRA. She did not take her required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2025 before she died....
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law on July 4, 2025, includes a new savings vehicle for children called “Trump accounts.” The rules surrounding these accounts are complicated, and many media outlets are reporting...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). This mammoth domestic policy and tax law is hundreds of pages long and will impact many people in all kinds of ways. What...
A barrage of tariff letters sent to over 20 countries by President Trump yielded very little movement in the financial markets. Trump announced that there would not be additional extensions to negotiations and that tariff levels sent in these letters would go into...
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst QUESTION: With the signing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) legislation and the current tax rates being made permanent, have your thoughts regarding Roth conversions changed? Jim ANSWER: Jim, We have always been, and...
Social Security is one of the most essential yet misunderstood pieces of the American retirement puzzle. With all the recent headlines, ranging from benefit increases and new payment rules to potential tax reforms under the Trump administration, many retirees and...
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Hopefully Ed Slott and Company is your trusted, go-to source for all things IRA and retirement plan related. Let’s be clear about the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025” (OBBBA), enacted on July 4. There is no “SECURE 3.0” in this...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Most company retirement savings plans, such as 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans, are allowed to (but not required to) offer plan loans. According to a survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, as of the end of 2022, 52% of 401(k)...
The holiday-shortened week produced another week of gains for US equity indices. The S&P 500 was up 10.6 % in the 2nd quarter, while the NASDAQ composite rose 17.8%. Trump’s reconciliation bill was passed by the Senate and subsequently approved by the House,...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Question: Can an IRA beneficiary do a 60-day rollover? Answer: Only a spouse beneficiary can do a 60-day rollover from an inherited IRA if the funds are moving into an IRA in her own name. If a nonspouse...
A wonderful retirement is the goal of many people, and you want it to come off without any major snags. But retirement plans always face challenges, whether it’s the volatility of the markets, the affordability of healthcare or the risks posed by inflation. Plus,...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education When retirement account funds are on the move, things do not always go as planned. The best way to move these funds is to do so directly, but that may not always be possible. It is very common for money to be moved...
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The pro-rata rule dictates that when an IRA contains both non-deductible (after-tax) and deductible (pre-tax) funds, then each dollar withdrawn (or converted) from the IRA will contain a percentage of tax-free and taxable funds...
The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ joined the NASDAQ 100 in forging new all-time highs in an extremely busy week for Wall Street. A de-escalation of the Iran-Israel-US conflict happened on the twelfth day after Israel’s initial strikes. The US bombed three key...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: I am over age 59½ and have had a Roth IRA account for more than 5 years. Starting in 2025, I designated all of my contributions into my employer’s 401(k) plan as Roth contributions. If I decide to retire before I have met the...
Retirement planning is rarely perfect. Life throws curveballs—health issues, market downturns, career changes—and even the most diligent savers can stumble along the way. If you’ve made financial missteps or feel unprepared as you approach retirement, you’re not...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst If you’re in a 457(b) plan and are nearing retirement, you may want to consider an often-overlooked rule that could allow you to defer twice the usual annual elective deferral limit (for 2025, $23,000 x 2 = $47,000) in the three...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The year 2025 has been a turbulent time for the economy. Whether due to job loss or persons seeking better investment opportunities in volatile markets, retirement account funds are on the move more than...
