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
Donating an appreciated stock through a qualified charitable distribution lets retirees over 70½ satisfy a required withdrawal tax-free
Retirees who no longer need every dollar of a required withdrawal often watch it inflate their tax bill anyway, dragging more of their Social Security...
An inherited Roth IRA is tax-free to heirs, but they must empty it within 10 years
Inheriting a Roth IRA can feel like receiving a gift with no strings attached, and on the tax side that is largely true. Money withdrawn...
Naming a beneficiary on a bank or brokerage account lets it skip probate
One of the simplest and cheapest estate-planning moves is often overlooked: adding a beneficiary to a bank or brokerage account. A single form can let...
Rolling a pension lump sum straight into an IRA avoids an immediate tax bill
When a pension plan pays out a lump sum, the way the money moves can matter as much as how large the check is. Sent...
A lump-sum pension buyout trades a guaranteed lifetime check for a one-time payment you must invest
Employers with traditional pension plans increasingly ask longtime workers and retirees to make a one-time choice: keep a guaranteed monthly check for life, or take...
Roth IRA withdrawals don’t count toward the income that makes Social Security taxable
Many retirees are surprised to learn that a portion of their Social Security benefits can be taxed, and that the tax often depends less on...
Workers 50 and older can add $7,500 more to a 401(k) in 2026
Retirement savers who have reached their 50s gained a little more room to shelter income in 2026. The standard limit on elective deferrals to a...
The Saver’s Credit hands lower-income workers up to $1,000, or $2,000 per couple, for retirement contributions
The federal tax code quietly rewards lower- and moderate-income households for setting money aside for retirement, yet the break remains one of the least-claimed lines...
A Medicaid-compliant annuity turns a couple’s excess savings into income and speeds a spouse’s coverage
When one spouse needs nursing-home care and the other remains at home, the couple’s savings can become the obstacle to getting help paying for it....
If a 401(k) plan offers it, a newer law lets workers pull up to $1,000 for an emergency without the usual penalty
Workers can use a newer federal exception to take as much as $1,000 from a 401(k) or another eligible retirement plan for an immediate personal...
The PBGC insures a failed company pension up to $93,477 a year for a 65-year-old retiree
A private company’s failure does not necessarily erase a traditional pension. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation takes over covered single-employer plans and pays benefits within...
Your first required IRA withdrawal can wait until April 1, but doubling up two withdrawals can spike your taxes
The first required minimum distribution carries an unusual choice: an IRA owner can take it during the year it belongs to or delay it until...
A bigger single-life pension can leave a surviving spouse with nothing
A pension election can trade a larger monthly check today for the disappearance of that income at the retiree’s death. The single-life option pays only...
Converting traditional IRA money in the low-income early-retirement years trims the tax on future required withdrawals
The years after a paycheck ends but before Social Security and required minimum distributions fully begin can create a temporary valley in taxable income. Moving...
Many nonspouse heirs must empty an inherited IRA within 10 years, and some owe yearly withdrawals along the way
An inherited IRA can carry two clocks at once. Many adult children and other nonspouse beneficiaries must drain the account by the end of the...
A spouse with no paycheck can still fund a spousal IRA
A year outside paid employment does not have to become a blank year in a married person’s retirement record. Federal law lets a couple use...
Workers aged 60 to 63 can put an extra $11,250 into a 401(k) in 2026, a super catch-up that shrinks at 64
A four-year age band now carries the largest 401(k) catch-up limit in the tax code. Workers who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during 2026...
After 65, health savings account money can pay for anything, taxed like an IRA
An HSA changes character at 65 without losing its most valuable tax benefit. Money used for qualified medical expenses remains tax-free, while withdrawals for groceries,...
For 2025, Kansas refunded 75% of property taxes for low-income seniors earning under $25,380
Kansas offered a substantial property-tax refund for the 2025 claim year, but the numbers belong to a closed filing period. The SAFESR program refunded 75%...
Required retirement-account withdrawals now start at 73 or 75, and missing one can bring a penalty
Required minimum distributions no longer begin at one universal age. Federal law now divides retirees into birth-year groups: most people born from 1951 through 1959...