By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: The virus pandemic has prompted legislation that has eliminated the requirement for me to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) from my IRA for the year 2020. Am I therefore allowed to do a partial Roth IRA conversion in...

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst The recently-enacted “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” or CARES Act, includes special tax relief for IRA and company plan withdrawals made in 2020 and for company plan loans. Who gets relief? Both the distribution and...

By Sarah Brenner, JD IRA Analyst As the coronavirus pandemic has spread, many Americans have been hit hard. Their retirement accounts have also taken a serious blow as markets have plummeted. In these tough times, there is a bit of good news as the government has come...

By Sarah Brenner, JD IRA Analyst Question: With the COVID-19 changes to push the tax filing back to July 31st, can someone still make a 2019 contribution until that date or do all contributions need to be made by the usual April 15th deadline this year? Jerry Answer:...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst By their nature, small businesses struggle in the shallows. Now they face a tsunami. However, when the shutters are removed and customers return and the employees are back on the payroll, normal day-to-day concerns will be a...

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst It’s common for IRA owners to leave their assets to multiple beneficiaries – for example, their children. Before the SECURE Act, it usually made sense to split the IRA into separate accounts either before or after death. That’s because...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Question: A daughter who has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis is listed as the beneficiary on her father’s Roth IRA.  Does this disease qualify as a “chronic illness” for purposes of the exception to the 10-year rule? Is...

By Sarah Brenner, JD IRA Analyst The coronavirus has been wreaking havoc on markets and millions of retirement account balances have suffered significant losses. This has left many IRA owners looking at lower account balances after several years of gains and wondering...

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst When a person takes a distribution from his IRA or workplace plan, he has 60 days from the day of receipt to redeposit (i.e., roll over) those dollars into another qualified account. This assumes no other disqualifying rollovers...

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Question: Hi Ed, First of all, I'm a big fan.  Now here's my question: If I do a backdoor Roth conversion with exclusively nondeductible IRA contributions, is there a 5-year clock on withdrawing the converted dollars without penalty?  In...