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Retirement FAQs

  1.

    Are 401(k) loans taxed?

  2. What pension benefits are available to military personnel?

  3. What should you do when you're five years from retiring?

  4. What are the differences between a 401K and an IRA?

  5. How do I retire?

  6. What are Government Pension Offsets, and who is subject to them?

  7. How do you plan for retirement if you have multiple employers? Can you combine retirement plans from multiple employers?

  8. My daughter would like to use some of her Roth IRA to pay for some current tuition fees and loans. Can she do this without a penalty?

  9. I have a 403(b) from a old employer. I would like to convert it to a 401(k). How can I do that?

  10. Our broker switched firms in the middle of 2011. As a result we lost track of our required minimum distribution (RMD) amounts and ended up withdrawing much more than our RMD. Is there a way to defer some of the withdrawal to 2012 to avoid the tax liabilit

  11. What happens during the consolidation phase of an investor's life cycle?

  12. How can I start an IRA for my child?

  13. What is the difference between qualified and non-qualified plans?

  14. The reason why ERISA qualified plans should have an investment policy statement is to:

  15. How do 401(k) loans work?

  16. What are the exceptions to the premature withdrawal penalty rules for IRA accounts?

  17. Can I refuse a gift by providing a "Qualified Disclaimer," and what does this entail?

  18. I have a profit-sharing plan with my former employer. I am now trying to buy a home. Can I use my profit-sharing money to put a down payment on a house?

  19. How does an employer benefit from a 401(k) matching plan?

  20. Should I collect early Social Security?

  21. What is the "stretch IRA" concept?

  22. What are the pros/cons of naming a trust as the beneficiary of a retirement account?

  23. Does it make sense to convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth when the market’s down?

  24. What is the difference between early retirement and full retirement as it applies to Social Security retirement benefits?

  25. When is the best time to purchase long-term care insurance?

  26. Which of the following accounts does ERISA cover?

  27. What is the "three-legged stool"?

  28. What is pension maximization?

  29. Is it wise to put an IRA account into a fixed or variable annuity?

  30. Which statement(s) is/are FALSE about market risk?

  31. What is long-term care?

  32. What are activities of daily living (ADL)?

  33. Why should I invest in the market when I can buy and sell houses or cars?

  34. A lot of retirement projections seem to assume an 8% rate of return. Is this realistic?

  35. Should a Canadian citizen who lives and works in the U.S. continue to contribute to a RRSP account?

  36. I overcontributed to my Roth, then lost half of this money to the market. Does the 6% penalty apply to my original contribution, or only what's left of it?

  37. What is cliff vesting?

  38. How do I use a conduit IRA?

  39. Do I still have to pay penalties and taxes on money that I don't roll over from a DROP fund?

  40. We are in a 401(k) at work. Can we also do a Roth each year? If we can, can it also be deducted from our taxes?

  41. Is a person an active participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan if he or she was only active for a short time?

  42. What are the penalties for withdrawing from my Traditional IRA less than a year after acquisition?

  43. Am I entitled to any of my ex-spouse's retirement plan benefits?

  44. What happens when someone is given the golden boot?

  45. Is it possible to reverse an IRA? I received a QDRO and owe money to my ex-husband. Is it possible to reverse the QDRO, which was put into a CD Traditional IRA account, without incurring any type of penalty?

  46. Can I convert non-deductible contributions made to my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA without being taxed?

  47. I'm a teacher. Which is better for me, a 401(k) or 403(b)? What is the difference? From whom do I get these plans?

  48. What kinds of investments are allowed in a qualified retirement plan, and what kinds are forbidden?

  49. Can I close my existing Roth IRA and invest in a new Roth IRA at a different financial institution without a tax penalty?

  50. What are the income limits for Roth IRA contributions?

  51. I am in my mid thirties and have nothing invested for retirement. Is it too late to start contributing for a retirement plan?

  52. Can I roll my 401(k) and/or IRA funds into a more liquid investment fund without penalty?

  53. As a temporary resident of the US, can I withdraw funds from my Traditional IRA without penalty when I leave the country?

  54. Can I establish more than one IRA?

  55. Can either a SEP IRA or a SIMPLE IRA be attached in a bankruptcy or malpractice action, or are they safe from any financial judgments like these?

  56. I understand that I can withdraw from a 401k the year I turn 55 without the 10% penalty (IRS 575). Can I do the same thing with an IRA without the 10% penalty?

  57. I overcontributed to my 401(k). What are my options?

  58. What are some of the features and benefits of SEP IRAs and Roth IRAs?

  59. I work for a university, and I have a 403(b) with TIAA-CREF. But TIAA-CREF says I cannot transfer money to another provider. Can they prevent me from transferring my money to a better investment?

  60. Is it permissible for a 70-year-old person to buy an IRA?

  61. I do not want to totally get out of my retirement 401(k), but I want to take 72(t) distributions. What should I consider?

  62. If I am no longer employed, can I roll over a 403(b) plan into an IRA?

  63. If I pass away, will my retirement plan go to my spouse tax free?

  64. My company is the trustee of our 401k plan (which has 112 participants). What are the pros and cons of having the company instead of the plan provider/vendor as the trustee?

  65. I converted my former IRA to a Roth for tax purposes in 1998, so even though the tax was paid over four years, am I correct to assume that this is now mine to withdraw, if I like, at no penalty? I am 60 years old.

  66. Can I roll over a profit-sharing plan to an SEP IRA account without suffering any tax penalties and liquidation of current positions held in this account?

  67. Can I, without tax penalties, use the IRA I inherited from my father to buy a home that I will live in? He was 72 and had started taking small payouts on it.

  68. I am considering taking a loan from my qualified retirement plan. What is the definition of a "reasonable interest rate"?

  69. My old company offers a 401(k) plan and my new employer only offers a 403(b) plan. Can I roll over the money in the 401(k) plan to this new 403(b) plan?

  70. I recently and accidentally established a Roth IRA for my spouse instead of myself and contributed additional monies. What should I do?

  71. I will be receiving monies from a QDRO executed pursuant to my divorce. I would like to take a portion of the money as a distribution to pay for a new home. What are the tax implications of doing this?

  72. What are the "certain requirements" that must be met for substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs)? Is it taxed at 20%? Is there any downside to the SEPP?

  73. The company I am working for said that 401(k) contribution can be based on only straight time pay! The company I previously worked for allowed me to contribute on gross earnings. Has the law changed, or is the current employer wrong?

  74. How do I go about opening up a Roth IRA?

  75. I have conservative views on investing. How should I go about investing in a Roth IRA?

  76. Can an IRA be used as security for a loan?

  77. Can I move my IRA to a better income-producing opportunity?

  78. Can I pull out most of my assets from my IRA and use the cash as long as I replace it in the IRA within a year?

  79. Does participation in a 401(k) plan prevent an individual from contributing to a Traditional IRA?

  80. Can an individual contribute to both a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA in the same year?

  81. If an individual still has his or her former spouse as the beneficiary of an IRA, does the former spouse receive the assets upon the individual's death?

  82. Can you have a 403(b) and also contribute to a 401(k)?

  83. My Traditional IRA has been converted to a Roth IRA. Can I still make a qualified withdrawal as a first-time home buyer?

  84. Is my 403(b) account owned by me or by the institution?

  85. Are the distribution rules for 401(k) and 403(b) plans the same as those for IRA plans?

  86. If I am entitled according to my divorce decree to a percentage of my ex-husband's IRA, how can I receive the assets due to me into my own IRA without being taxed? Will he be taxed when he makes the transfer? Will the money he may have to pay in taxes the

  87. Does the five-year rule apply if a non-spouse inherits an IRA after the required beginning date and the required minimum distribution is not satisfied in the year of death?

  88. Can a simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA be converted to a Roth IRA in the same manner that a Traditional IRA can?

  89. I have several Roth IRA conversions, each with different custodians. When I spoke to an IRS representative, he maintained that the total amount of the conversions is always available. He told me that at any time I can take out what I had paid taxes on (wi

  90. I am over 60 years old and have a Roth IRA to which I have made contributions for more than five years. Are all distributions tax free?

  91. Can I contribute to both a 529 plan and a Coverdell education savings account?

  92. My 80-year-old mother used her Roth IRA assets to make an $11,000 annual gift tax exclusion. Will these still be considered Roth IRA assets?

  93. My recently deceased spouse's IRA has been rolled over into mine. Does the cost basis change for me?

  94. Can my spouse and I convert our IRAs to Roth IRAs regardless of earned income?

  95. I am a teacher in a public school system and I don't presently have a 403(b) plan, but I do have some money in a Roth IRA and also a self-directed IRA. Can I roll my IRA funds into a newly opened 403(b) plan, since I am presently employed by the school sy

  96. What do you do for a non-spouse beneficiary receiving a required minimum distribution (RMD) when the plan terminates? Is the purchase of an annuity the only option? Any thoughts on whether an IRA could be opened?

  97. Can I borrow from an IRA without penalty?

  98. My wife and I both converted our Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in Dec 1998 and have invested the maximum amount each year to date in the Roth. I am purchasing a new home in January. Do my wife and I each qualify for a one-time, tax-free $10,000 "qualified

  99. Can a person who is retired continue to fund an IRA?

  100. When should I take my Canadian Pension Plan distributions?

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Last Questions Asked:
  1.

    Are 401(k) loans taxed?

  2. What pension benefits are available to military personnel?

  3. What should you do when you're five years from retiring?

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