Do you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan with Fidelity and wish that you had access to better investment choices? If so, then you should definitely check to see if their “BrokerageLink” service is available within your plan. To be fair, Fidelity has a number of good, low-cost options in the [...]
401(k)
One of the big pieces of news out of President Obama’s budget proposal was a proposed cap on retirement accounts. You may have heard rumblings about this in the form of a possible $3M limit on balances across all of your retirement accounts. Today I want to shed a bit [...]
Much has been written about the virtues of rolling over your 401(k) into an IRA. But what about doing the opposite? Believe it or not, there are cases in which you might want to roll IRA funds into a 401(k) plan. Note that not all 401(k) plan administrators allow this [...]
I’ve been fortunate. Over the years, my employers have offered excellent retirement plans. But for many, that’s not the case. If your 401(k) or 403(b) plan stinks — due to high fees, lack of appropriate investment options, or both — what should you do? Should you still contribute? Or should [...]
I recently learned that my parents nearly forgot to take the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from my dad’s IRA last year. Fortunately, they remembered at the last minute and avoided any penalties, but it was a close call — too close for comfort. Going forward, I’ll be helping them out [...]
After singing the praises of traditional (i.e., tax-deferred) retirement accounts, I thought it was only fair to highlight the advantage of Roth retirement accounts, too. Obviously, Roth accounts are nice because, though your contributions are non-deductible, all qualified distributions are tax free. But the advantages don’t stop there… At least [...]
If you listen to the vast majority of personal finance gurus, you’ll come away with the impression that Roth accounts are the best thing since sliced bread. While I do appreciate the advantages of Roth accounts, traditional (tax-deferred) retirement accounts don’t get nearly enough credit. The reason I say this [...]
As we move into November, it’s time to start looking ahead to 2013. That means it’s time to revisit your retirement plan contributions. According to the IRS, the 2013 contribution limits for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans will increase from $17,000/year to $17,500/year. For participants who are at least 50 [...]