Retirement Planning
401(k), IRA, Roth accounts, pension plans, withdrawal strategies, required minimum distributions, and how much you need to retire.
Latest in Retirement Planning
Pulling retirement income from a Roth can keep more of your Social Security check untaxed
Which account a retiree taps for spending money can quietly decide how much of a Social Security check the IRS gets to tax. The reason...
Some retirees pay zero federal tax on long-term investment gains when their income stays low enough
The federal tax code contains a bracket that many older investors never notice: a zero percent rate on long-term capital gains for taxpayers whose taxable...
A new federal program will match up to $1,000 a year for workers who save without a job plan
Starting in 2027, the federal government will begin depositing money directly into the retirement accounts of lower- and moderate-income workers who set some cash aside...
A Roth IRA never forces withdrawals, letting the money grow tax-free for heirs
Every other retirement account eventually forces the owner’s hand. Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s carry required minimum distributions — annual withdrawals the government demands starting at...
A durable power of attorney lets someone manage your money if you can’t
Illness, a stroke, or the slow arithmetic of dementia can take away a person’s ability to manage money long before it takes anything else. When...
A transfer-on-death deed passes a home to heirs without probate in many states
For most retirees, the house is the biggest thing they will ever leave behind — and if it passes through a will, it usually passes...
A new federal Saver’s Match will deposit up to $1,000 into some workers’ retirement accounts
A change buried in the SECURE 2.0 retirement law will turn a little-used tax break into something more tangible: cash the federal government deposits directly...
Workers in their early 60s can now make a larger catch-up retirement contribution
Retirement savers have long been allowed to put away extra once they turn 50, a catch-up contribution meant to help workers make up ground in...
Roth conversions have no income limit, letting high earners move money into tax-free growth
There are two ways money reaches a Roth account, and they follow very different rules. Contributing directly is barred for high earners once income tops...
A qualified charitable distribution lets retirees give from an IRA and count it as their RMD, tax-free
Once a saver reaches the age when the government requires withdrawals from a traditional retirement account, that money lands on the tax return as ordinary...
Required withdrawals from retirement accounts now start at 73, rising to 75 in 2033
Tax-deferred retirement accounts come with a bill that eventually comes due. The government lets savers postpone taxes on traditional IRAs and 401(k)s for decades, but...
Trump opened 401(k)s to private equity and crypto, putting $12 trillion in retirement savings in play
An executive order signed in August 2025 set in motion the biggest change to workplace retirement menus in a generation, directing federal regulators to clear...
A payable-on-death beneficiary lets a brokerage or bank account pass to heirs without probate
When someone dies with money in a bank or brokerage account, that money can spend months tied up in probate court before an heir sees...
A small-estate affidavit lets heirs skip probate entirely for a modest estate
When a parent dies leaving a bank account, a car, and some household belongings but no fortune, the family often braces for probate court out...
A life-estate deed passes a home to heirs while letting the owner live there for life
An older homeowner who wants a house to reach a child without the delay and expense of probate has a tool many overlook: the life-estate...
An income-only trust can qualify a retiree for Medicaid nursing care in states with a hard income cap
In roughly half the states, being even a few dollars a month over the Medicaid income limit can disqualify a retiree from long-term care coverage...
Medicaid estate recovery can be waived when repayment would cause a survivor real hardship
Many families are blindsided months after a parent’s death by a letter from the state seeking repayment of that parent’s Medicaid long-term care, a claim...
Medicaid’s self-directed home care can let you hire and pay a family member as the caregiver
Families who take on the daily grind of caring for an aging parent often assume the work has to be unpaid. In much of the...
Medicaid lets you keep one home, one car and a prepaid burial while qualifying for nursing-home care
The fear that keeps many families from applying for Medicaid long-term care is that the program will force them to sell everything first. It will...
Medicaid’s five-year look-back turns recent gifts into a penalty that delays nursing-home coverage
A generous gift to a grandchild or a quiet transfer of the family home can quietly cost a retiree months of paid nursing-home care. When...