Learning Center

A Roth individual retirement account (IRA) is a personal savings plan that offers certain tax benefits to encourage retirement savings. Contributions to a Roth IRA are never tax deductible on your federal income tax return, which means that you can contribute only after-tax dollars. But  …read more »

IRA contribution limits The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA or Roth IRA in 2013 increases to $5,500 (or 100% of your earned income, if less), up from $5,000 in 2012. The maximum catch-up contribution for those age 50 or older remains  …read more »

You may be familiar with the rules for putting money into a 401(k) plan. But are you familiar with the rules for taking your money out? Federal law limits the withdrawal options that a 401(k) plan can offer. But a 401(k) plan may offer fewer  …read more »

If you converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2010, and your Roth IRA has sustained losses as a result of the recent market downturn, you may want to consider whether it makes sense to undo recharacterize your conversion. You have until October  …read more »

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 first allowed taxpayers age 70½ or older to exclude from gross income otherwise taxable distributions (“qualified charitable distributions,” or QCDs) from their IRA that were paid directly to a qualified charity. Taxpayers were able to exclude up to $100,000  …read more »