There are a handful of IRA account types to choose from. Do you feel confident that you’re familiar with the details of those accounts? For a quick overview of each account type, keep reading. SEP IRA A Simplified Employee Pension Plan, or a SEP IRA, is a retirement plan that’s specifically designed for people with […]
Get Yourself Caught up on Retirement Savings
If you’re struggling to get that retirement savings tucked away, don’t stress. It’s unfortunately not uncommon for Americans to have trouble in this department. Or for Americans to have trouble saving at all. Whether it’s low-wages to blame or pressure to keep-up-with-the-Joneses, we’re flat out bad at it. The good news is that there are […]
Rolling Over a 401K to a Self-Directed IRA
A rollover is a transfer of funds from one retirement savings account to another retirement savings account type. The reason that you may want to rollover an account can range from dissatisfaction of the performance of your current account, a change in employment, or maybe you’ve inherited an IRA. Regardless of your reason, there are […]
Roth IRA Contribution Limits for 2019
After six years of being stuck at $5,500, the amount IRA owners can contribute to an Individual Retirement Account is being bumped up to $6,000 for 2019. The amount you can contribute to a 401K or a similar employer-sponsored retirement plan goes up from $18,500 in 2018 to $19,000 in 2019. Catch-up contribution limits if […]
Utilizing your IRA to Buy and Sell Real Estate
Self-directed IRAs are the less offered and lesser known of the IRA options. That’s simply because they’re seen as needing too much effort to utilize correctly. The truth is that self-directed IRAs aren’t as complicated as they’re made out to be. Especially if you have the right custodian who offers the services you need to […]
A Guide to Non-Recourse Loans in an IRA
What is a non-recourse loan? When real estate is purchased through a self-directed IRA using leverage, the IRS requires a non-recourse loan. The main difference between a non-recourse loan and a recourse loan is which assets a lender can go after if a borrower fails to repay the loan. Non-recourse debt is usually limited to a 50-60% […]
Protecting your Retirement from a Financial Crisis
So first thing’s first, I’m not the fear-mongering type. I personally really hate it when pundits prey on people’s worst instincts. But there is, unfortunately, something to be said for financial forecasting, right? It’s more (at least somewhat) more science-based, and less I’ve-got-a-feeling-something-bad-is-gonna-happen. There are patterns and signs for what’s to come, and we know […]
Traditional IRA Contribution Limits Increase for 2019
IRA contribution limits are increasing in 2019. For the first time in six years, the IRS is going to push up both the 401k contribution limit and the IRA contribution limit by $500. The IRS adjusts IRA contribution limits and also adjusts income phase-out ranges once a year, and that’s based on cost of living […]
IRA Q&A: Your Job and your Retirement Savings
Here’s a question that popped into my head just the other day: Can you put money in an IRA or a Roth IRA if you don’t have wage income? And the answer I found is that Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) were introduced in the mid-70s to help employees save for retirement and reduce their taxable […]
Control your Investments With a Checkbook IRA
Do you have an IRA or a 401K? According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, in 2013, about 45 percent of households aged 25 to 64 had balances in retirement accounts. Do those 45 percent of Americans know what their retirement accounts are invested in? Most likely not, and that doesn’t bother […]