401K

How and Where to Open an IRA or Roth IRA Account and Factors to Keep in Mind

I receive a lot of questions on Individual retirement accounts (IRA) based on related posts I have written about. One question that seems to come up often, is how to actually open an IRA account and where is the best place to do so. An IRA (individual retirement account) is your personal savings plan for retirement, offering [...]

Read the full article →

Roth 401k and IRA Retirement Plans Conversion Limits and Rules

5 comments

[Updated] With the recent approval of the Small Business Jobs Act, 401(k) plan participants are now permitted to convert their traditional employee sponsored retirement accounts over into Roth 401(k)s. The change will give many people the ability to better plan for retirement by mitigating tax impacts and leverage benefits currently available via Roth and Traditional [...]

Read the full article →

How To Navigate Through Your 401k Investment Options

3 comments

Trying to find the right investments for your 401k can leave you feeling like you are lost in the middle of a maze. Your 401k plan provider may offer a ton of investment options including stocks, stock funds, bond funds, and exchange traded funds. With so many options to choose from, what is an investor [...]

Read the full article →

New 401(k) Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Provisions in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213)

3 comments

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation today that includes a provision to expose hidden 401(k) fees that may be eating into Americans’ retirement savings. The provision was part of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213). A majority of American workers rely on 401(k)-style plans to finance their retirements, but most [...]

Read the full article →

Traditional IRA versus Roth IRA – 2011 Contribution and Phase-out Income Limits

15 comments

[Updated Nov 2010] The IRS has released the official 2011 401K and IRA Limits. These have been updated based on 2011 cost of living adjustments (COLA) which remained unchanged again this year. The main impact to IRA and Roth IRA plans are the income eligibility/phase-out limits. The table below summarizes the key rules and limits [...]

Read the full article →

How to Reduce Your Tax Bill Liability By Lowering Your Taxable Income and Claiming More Deductions

7 comments

I recently filed my taxes and much to my disappointment I ended up owing taxes. While paying taxes is not itself a bad thing, after all I did not give an interest free loan to Uncle Sam, what really hurts is that if I had undertaken a few actions earlier in the year I could [...]

Read the full article →

2011 vs. 2012 401k, 403b Contribution Limits and Catch-up Amounts

56 comments

[Updated for 2012 contribution limits] The IRS has now released the official 2012 401k, 403b and other retirement plan contribution limits, which reflect a $500 increase over the 2011 standard contribution limit. This is a result of higher inflation and the latest cost of living adjustment (COLA) figures. The 2012 contribution limit is the first increase in three years. Each [...]

Read the full article →

Why the Fall in Stock Prices was Good For Your 401K

8 comments

I hope you didn’t reduce your 401K or other retirement account contributions over the last four to six months as stock prices and markets tumbled. Even though the value of your current 401K or retirement plan probably fell over this time, in the long term the power of dollar cost averaging and recovering/rising markets would [...]

Read the full article →

401K Basics – How These Retirement Plans Work to Your Benefit

6 comments

Here is a great article covering what a 401K is and why it is a great investment. It is a good refresher article! As more Americans shoulder the responsibility of funding their own retirement, many rely increasingly on their 401(k) retirement plans to provide the means to meet their investment goals. That’s because 401(k) plans [...]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →