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Q: We are evaluating which retirement plan to implement for our business. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan versus a 401(k) retirement plan?

The Problem – Understanding the Differences Between SIMPLE IRA and 401(k) Retirement Plans

Many small and middle sized companies delay implementing a retirement plan because they do not understand the key differences among two of the most common types of plans.

The Solution – Learning the Differences

Number of Employees Continue reading ‘What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of a SIMPLE IRA Retirement Plan Versus a 401(k)?’ »

The S&P 500 Index is a list of the 500 largest companies in the world such as Target, AT&T, Apple, BP, Coke and many more. By watching the S&P 500 Index you can see what and how the overall market is doing. Other indexes are the Dow Jones Index but it only has 30 companies and the Nasdaq Index which has many small companies. These two Indexes follow the direction of the S&P 500 Index because of its more well known companies. Continue reading ‘Mutual Funds Strategy to Protect Your IRA and 401K’ »

A traditional IRA is a retirement savings account which gives tax deductions on the money paid into it; however, there are key IRA rules determining how much you can save, and the ways in which you can save. There are certain strings attached regards when and how you can withdraw this money too. Before agreeing to start-up an IRA, it is important to learn the rules involving these retirement accounts.

For 2009, contributions to an IRA have been set at $5,000 if you are below age 50 and $6,000 if you are 50 years or older. However, it is important to understand that you are unable to make contributions if you have not earned any income in the last tax year. Continue reading ‘What You Need to Know About Traditional and Roth IRA Rules’ »

Possibly more so now than any time before, ensuring you have the most appropriate retirement plan operating for you is important. However, understanding traditional IRA (Independent Retirement Account) rules is not always easy and failure to do so could cost you dearly in the future; at just the wrong time.

As well as having to have earned an income in the preceding year, understanding IRA rules is not made any easier for us with their constantly being adjusted each calendar year. Not only ruling how contributions are made, how deductions are evaluated, they also set new IRA limits for the total amount which can be paid in, in any calendar year. For 2009 limits are set at 5,000 dollars for those aged 49 or below; and 6,000 dollars for those aged 50 and above. Continue reading ‘Understanding IRA Limits and IRA Rules’ »

Starting a Roth IRA will become more popular in the years to come because it is likely that the income tax rates will rise and due to this fact, it is the best IRA in rising income tax environment. While most people focus on the income tax benefits of the Roth IRA, there are numerous benefits related to estate planning as well. A Roth IRA has the unique ability of allowing you to leave money to your heirs without leaving them an income tax bill to go along with it. If you had a traditional IRA, income taxes would have to be paid on any amount that is withdrawn from the account. When money is withdrawn from a Roth IRA account, there are no taxes to pay because the contributions were made after taxes were taken.

The second benefit is that you will be able to leave a larger amount of money to your heirs because the money in the account can continue to grow tax free until the date of your death. With a traditional IRA, there are withdrawal requirements that force you to make withdrawals as soon as you reach 70 1/2. For example, if you were to take $2,000 out of the traditional account, you would have to pay $500 in taxes. That’s $500 less that you can leave to your heirs. Continue reading ‘Roth IRA Benefits – Best IRA With Rising Tax Rates’ »

Indeed, the most efficient way to create higher rates of return from your individual retirement account or IRA is by fully understanding the rules and regulations that cover it. As an investor of a Roth retirement plan, it’s essential that you are aware of the Roth IRA restrictions. These are the income and contribution limits a taxpayer should strictly follow, because they are the primary factors that affect a taxpayer’s eligibility to benefit from a Roth IRA Continue reading ‘Roth IRA Restrictions – Know Your Limitations’ »

Investing in gold for IRA accounts will protect your retirement from inflation. Investing in gold for IRA accounts can be done in two ways. It is simple to do and most IRA’s allow both physical and paper (gold stocks) gold in the IRA. Continue reading ‘Investing in Gold For Your IRA’ »

I recommend my clients use a Roth IRA to grow their retirement savings tax-free. Because I know the various types of IRAs can seem a little confusing, I thought I would take some time today to answer the questions I get most often from clients.

What is a Roth IRA?

It is a type of individual retirement account that features tax-free withdrawals because the original contributions are made with after-tax money. Continue reading ‘Roth IRA FAQ’ »

The IRA deduction for tax purposes is one of the biggest perks to investing in a traditional IRA. The question is whether you will actually be able to deduct all of the money you contribute in a given year. There are some rules that will determine this on an individual basis.

The biggest rule to be familiar with involves other types of retirement plans that you may be a participant in. If you are participating in any type of retirement investment plan through your employer, then chances are you will not be able to deduct all of your contributions to a traditional IRA plan. Continue reading ‘IRA Deduction Rules For a Traditional IRA’ »

Today, all investors with any type of IRA account have to check the current IRA contribution limits to determine how much money they are allowed to invest over the course of the year. For many years the limit was stable at $2,000, but in recent years the IRS started to raise that amount based on the rising cost of living across the country.

Due to considerable increases in the national cost of living in our country, the IRS raised the maximum contribution to $5,000 in 2008. For the 2009 IRA limits, this limit remains the same but there are some other things to consider before assuming this is your limit. Continue reading ‘What Are the 2009 IRA Limits?’ »