By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport The Ed Slott team answers thousands of IRA and work plan questions annually – emails, phone calls, in-person conversations, webinars, Q&A programs and texts. We accommodate all members of...
Weekly Market Commentary – 9/22/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets sold off in tandem with the US Treasury market as the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting concluded with no change to its policy rate. The Fed’s Summary of Economic...
You don’t have to tell them some things, but others are very important You’ve probably taught your kids a whole bunch about money over the years, like how to stretch an allowance through an entire week and how to balance a debit account — or, most challenging of all,...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA The holiday-shortened week ended with losses for both US equities and Treasuries. Apple shares tumbled on the news that the Chinese government would ban the use of the iPhone at government agencies at all levels of government. The news comes in...
These stealthy cash drainers could be costing you big bucks Yes, you can save a lot by cutting out the little pleasures in life. Nonessentials like caffe lattes and premium channels can really add up. But life is too short for mediocre coffee! The good news is that...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/25/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial markets were all over the place last week and ended with mixed results. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% and closed above 4400, a critical psychological level, but fell short of regaining the 50-day...
Facing an insecure financial future, America’s ‘neglected middle child’ may have to chart a different path to post-work life For years, Mike Cundall Jr. thought he was on the proper path to retirement. A professor of philosophy at North Carolina...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/18/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets fell for the third consecutive week. The S&P 500 broke its 50-day moving average and then sank below 4400. The sell-off has been on low volume, and the market may have been due to...
Inflation, stock swings and more erode Americans’ confidence in future financial security When it comes to retirement readiness, many Americans are feeling disillusioned. A spring Gallup poll found that only 43 percent of nonretired adults expect to live out their...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA US Financial markets had another week of consolidation. Equities and US Treasuries sold off in tandem on light volume. An early week debt downgrade of 10 small to midsized banks and a notice that other downgrades may follow by Moody’s dampened...
A little planning can ease the financial hardship You may not think a disaster can hit you, but a disaster of some sort can occur just about any place, at any time, with little or no warning. Garrett Sorensen knows that. His car was totaled when a powerful tornado hit...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport Question: I’m age 76. My brother died in December 2022 at 84. Do I take required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the inherited account based on my age or on my brother’s age at death? Answer: Since you’re...
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport As already-complicated IRA rules spiral further into an abyss of confusion, it comes as no surprise that irregularities exist. Up is down and left is right. Green means stop, red means throw your...
By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Follow Us on X: @theslottreport If you’re facing the unpleasant prospect of paying college bills for the fall semester, you may be thinking of tapping into your retirement savings to help with the costs. If you’re under age 59 ½,...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/4/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global equity markets fell last week as investors digested a full dose of Q2 earnings reports, a packed economic calendar, more central bank policy decisions, and Fitch’s surprise downgrade of US...
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport Question: Greetings, If I have the beneficiaries on my IRA listed as my wife (50%) and two children over 21 (50%), is my wife still able to move her half of the IRA into her existing IRA when I...
You may think that your big expenses in retirement will be for greens fees at golf clubs, spa charges at that resort in Crete, and taking the kids out for avocado toast on weekends. And that may well be true. But some of your biggest expenses may surprise you —...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport Are you thinking of naming a child or grandchild as your IRA beneficiary? With the start of the SECURE Act in January 2020, the rules for inherited IRAs were upended....
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport There is no doubt we have written about this topic in past Slott Report entries. Possibly many times. There is also no doubt that people continue to make this same error, over and over...
By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport Question: I inherited an IRA in 2022 upon the passing of my father after he had already started his RMDs. I took a 2023 RMD from it in May 2023. Your website says I’m not...
