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On December 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. In so doing, the most comprehensive retirement bill since the Pension Protection Act of 2006 became law. Among the SECURE Act’s many provisions comes some potentially bad news for many Wealthfront clients, and it’s important that you’re aware of it.

The law expands opportunities for individuals to participate in efficient employee retirement plans, but it also eliminates stretch individual retirement accounts (IRAs). This part of the legislation is an unwelcome change for some individual retirement savers.

Why it matters
Prior to the passage of the SECURE Act, individuals who inherited a Roth or traditional IRA were subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) based on life expectancy. This allowed beneficiaries to continue growing the IRA in a tax-deferred manner over the course of their lives. For example, a young beneficiary would have a lower RMD and could potentially stretch the tax-free growth of the inherited IRA over decades — hence the term stretch IRA.
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Written by Andy Rachleff | Posted in Retirement Planning • Retirement Savings

Charles Woodson _ Thinking Of Tapping Into Your Retirement Savings

If you are suddenly in need of a substantial amount of cash, probably the last thing you should do is tap your retirement funds. They are the key to a financially comfortable retirement. The younger you are, the less likely you are to think about saving for retirement, but you certainly don’t want to end up living off of only Social Security. However, there are times when there might not be any other alternative than dipping into your 401(k), IRA or other retirement plan. In that case, you have to be concerned not only with any tax liability, but also early withdrawal penalties if the funds are withdrawn before reaching age 59 1/2 Plus, some distributions may only be partially taxable and some not taxable at all, while others are fully taxable.

Like everything in the U.S. tax code, the rules relating to pension or other retirement plan distributions are complicated and governed by a variety of provisions. This article describes these various rules so you can see how they would apply to a withdrawal you might be contemplating.

Written by Chuck Woodson | Posted in Retirement Savings