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
A beneficiary form on your account overrides whatever your will says
A will is often treated as the master document of an estate, but for a large share of a typical retiree’s wealth it is overruled...
Retirees 70½ and older can give straight from an IRA and skip the tax
There is a rarely used move that lets older IRA owners support a cause and trim their tax bill in one step. Anyone age 70½...
Most heirs must empty an inherited IRA within 10 years, and the tax bill can be steep
The long-standing strategy of stretching an inherited IRA across a lifetime is gone for most heirs. Under rules that took hold after the SECURE Act,...
Required minimum withdrawals from an IRA now start at 73 and rise to 75 in 2033
The age at which retirement savers must begin pulling taxable money out of a traditional IRA has shifted again, and the change gives many people...
Seniors can deduct out-of-pocket medical costs above 7.5% of income, including long-term-care premiums
The federal tax code lets a taxpayer deduct unreimbursed medical and dental expenses, but only the portion that exceeds 7.5% of adjusted gross income. For...
High earners over about $145,000 must make 401(k) catch-up contributions as Roth in 2027
A change written into federal retirement law will take away a choice that higher-paid savers have long had over their 401(k) catch-up contributions. Beginning in...
A lump-sum pension buyout trades a lifetime monthly check for one cash payout you must manage yourself
An offer that lands in the mail from a former employer can look like a windfall: take a large one-time cash payment now instead of...
A surviving military spouse can qualify for a tax-free VA payment of more than $1,600 a month
A monthly benefit that many military families never claim can be worth more than $1,600 a month, tax-free, for the rest of a surviving spouse’s...
Medicaid’s five-year look-back can delay nursing-home coverage over money or property given away recently
A gift that felt generous can quietly postpone the day Medicaid starts paying for a nursing home. When someone applies for long-term-care Medicaid, the state...
A payable-on-death beneficiary lets a bank account skip probate and reach heirs directly
A single form at the bank can keep a checking or savings account out of probate entirely, sending the balance straight to a named person...
A free national search can turn up a lost pension from an employer that merged or shut down decades ago
Tens of millions of dollars in earned pension benefits sit uncollected across the country, waiting for people who moved, changed names, or simply lost track...
Roth 401(k) accounts no longer force required withdrawals during your lifetime
A quiet provision that took effect for the 2024 tax year removed one of the last penalties on Roth savings held inside a workplace plan....
Your heirs inherit your home and investments at their date-of-death value, erasing tax on a lifetime of gains
An asset held for decades can carry an enormous embedded tax bill: the capital gains tax owed on all the appreciation since it was bought....
A transfer-on-death deed passes your home to heirs without probate, avoiding thousands in court costs
Probate can consume months and thousands of dollars in court and attorney fees before heirs ever take title to a house, and in some states...
Medicaid can bill your estate after death, but a surviving spouse or disabled child can block a claim on the home
A retiree who spends years on Medicaid-funded nursing care can leave heirs an unwelcome surprise: a bill from the state, sent after death, seeking repayment...
A surviving spouse can roll a late partner’s IRA into their own and delay required withdrawals
When a spouse dies, the IRA left behind carries a choice that can preserve years of tax-deferred growth or forfeit it. A surviving husband or...
The Saver’s Credit gives lower-income workers up to $1,000 back for retirement contributions
A tax credit worth up to $1,000 sits unclaimed by many of the workers it was built for, because few realize the government will effectively...
A Roth IRA carries no lifetime required withdrawals, unlike a traditional IRA
At age 73, the owner of a traditional IRA must begin pulling money out whether the cash is needed or not, and every forced dollar...
A pension survivor option trims your monthly check but keeps paying a spouse for life
Choosing how a pension pays out is one of the few retirement decisions that cannot be undone, and the choice that protects a spouse comes...
Workers 60 to 63 can add an extra $11,250 to a 401(k) in 2026
A narrow group of older workers can shovel far more into a 401(k) in 2026 than everyone else. For employees who are 60, 61, 62,...