In a country founded on the idea of individual freedom, Americans value the idea of choice. We inherently believe that maximizing individual freedom increases our individual welfare or happiness and that the best way to maximize individual freedom is to maximize choice. A bar with 120 beers on tap is perceived better than a bar [...]
The SECURE Act is by far the biggest retirement-oriented legislation to be enacted in over a decade. Many Americans are left wondering, “What does this mean for me?” Here’s what you need to know. 1. Required minimum distribution age increased to 72 One of the biggest changes in the SECURE Act is the increase of [...]
Following the When Roth is Wrong post, readers responded with various questions and, sometimes, with a different form of the same question. We address several of those questions below since they're good questions and may be helpful for other readers. Q: If we end up leaving the retirement accounts to our children, doesn’t that make [...]
The House of Representatives passed a bill on May 23rd known as the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019) which would initiate the biggest changes to retirement accounts in over a decade. The bill had bipartisan support, passing with a vote of 417-3. It now heads to the Senate [...]
President Obama unveiled the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget last Tuesday (February 9th) which included several unexpected first-time proposals in addition to many crackdowns and “loophole closures” that have become annually recurring proposals. Experts contend there is little likelihood of any substantial tax change in the final year of the President’s term. However, we could see [...]
In 1987, the IRS created rules to require the distribution of retirement plan assets and set 70½ as the age at which these distributions would be required to begin. Although not mentioned in the legislation or tax code, this age was chosen based on a Biblical reference to old age: “The days of our years [...]
