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
Starting in 2027 the government will deposit up to $1,000 a year into low- and middle-income savers’ retirement accounts
Beginning with the 2027 tax year, the federal government will start putting money directly into the retirement accounts of lower- and middle-income workers who save,...
Roth 401(k) accounts no longer force required withdrawals during your lifetime
For the 2024 tax year and every year since, a designated Roth account held inside a 401(k) or 403(b) has stopped forcing its owner to...
Rolling a 401(k) straight into an IRA avoids the automatic 20% tax withholding a check in your name triggers
The difference between two ways of moving a 401(k) into an IRA can cost a saver thousands of dollars, and it comes down to whose...
The average forgotten 401(k) holds $66,691, and a free federal database finds yours
Decades of job-hopping have left Americans holding an enormous pile of retirement money they have simply lost track of. Research counts roughly 31.9 million forgotten...
A community spouse can keep up to $162,660 in assets when a partner enters a nursing home on Medicaid
When one spouse moves into a nursing home and turns to Medicaid to cover the bill, the partner who stays home does not have to...
A shared nursing-home room now runs $72,000 to $127,750 a year, and Medicaid helps only after savings fall below $2,000
The price of a nursing home has moved well beyond what most retirement incomes can absorb. A shared, semi-private room now costs between $72,000 and...
Medicaid can bill a senior’s estate after death for nursing-home care it paid
Medicaid is often described as the program that pays for nursing-home care once a person’s savings are gone, but that description leaves out the final...
First-time homebuyers can tap $10,000 from an IRA without the extra 10% tax
A first-time homebuyer can use as much as $10,000 from an individual retirement account without the additional 10% tax that usually applies to an early...
Retirement contributions can trigger a $1,000 Saver’s Credit
A qualifying retirement contribution can generate a federal Saver’s Credit of as much as $1,000 for an individual, adding an immediate tax benefit to money...
IRA savers get a $7,500 contribution limit for 2026
The individual retirement account contribution limit rose to $7,500 for 2026, giving savers $500 more room than in 2025 before any age-based catch-up. The increase...
Workers can now put $24,500 into a 401(k) for 2026
The basic 401(k) employee contribution ceiling is $24,500 for 2026, up $1,000 from the prior year. That number governs the salary workers can elect to...
Early retirees can avoid the 10% penalty with 72(t) payments lasting at least five years
Section 72(t) can turn retirement savings into penalty-free income before age 59½, but it does so by replacing flexibility with a rigid payment schedule. A...
Old 529 money can roll into a Roth IRA up to a $35,000 lifetime limit
A long-open 529 account no longer has to end with a taxable withdrawal simply because the beneficiary finished school with money left over. Federal law...
One $1,000 emergency retirement withdrawal can escape the 10% early-distribution tax each year
A federal exception can spare one small emergency retirement withdrawal from the 10% additional tax, but it does not turn a 401(k) or IRA into...
The Labor Department’s lost-and-found database can reconnect workers with forgotten retirement plans
A federal search can now bridge one of the hardest gaps in retirement planning: remembering who holds a benefit from an employer that changed names,...
Workplace emergency-savings accounts can hold $2,600 in 2026 and allow tax-free withdrawals
A pension-linked emergency savings account puts a small cash reserve inside an employer retirement plan without treating every withdrawal like a retirement raid. The 2026...
$7,789.77 a month is PBGC’s 2026 pension guarantee ceiling for a 65-year-old
The federal pension backstop has a large 2026 headline number and a much narrower legal meaning. PBGC lists $7,789.77 a month as the maximum guarantee...
About 4 million Americans turn 65 each year, and most retire without a pension
Roughly 4 million Americans cross the traditional retirement age of 65 every year right now, the largest such wave in the nation’s history. Yet the...
$464 billion in annuities sold last year, a record, as buyers chase guaranteed income
Americans poured a record $464.1 billion into annuities last year, more than in any year before, as savers rattled by market swings and uncertain interest...
New 401(k) plans must now automatically enroll workers at 3% to 10% of pay
A worker who starts a job at a newer company now begins saving for retirement automatically, whether or not they ever fill out a form....