Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Traditional IRA vs Roth IRA

Traditional IRA vs Roth IRA

Which is better?

Which is better an IRA or a Roth IRA

Which is better an IRA or a Roth IRA ?

That depends on what your end goal is for pay taxes up front or later when you draw the money out.

Friday, August 26, 2011

IRA Links and Resources

IRA Links and Resources

Topic 451 - Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)



Topic 451 - Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
An individual retirement arrangement, or IRA, is a personal savings plan which allows you to set aside money for retirement, while offering you tax advantages. You can set up different kinds of IRAs with a variety of organizations, such as a bank or other financial institution, a mutual fund, or a life insurance company.
The original IRA is referred to as a "traditional IRA." A traditional IRA is any IRA that is not a Roth IRA or a SIMPLE IRA. You may be able to deduct some or all of your contributions to a traditional IRA. You may also be eligible for a tax credit equal to a percentage of your contribution. Amounts in your traditional IRA, including earnings, generally are not taxed until distributed to you. IRAs cannot be owned jointly. However, any amounts remaining in your IRA upon your death can be paid to your beneficiary or beneficiaries.
To contribute to a traditional IRA, you must be under age 70 1/2 at the end of the tax year. You, and/or your spouse if you file a joint return, must have taxable compensation, such as wages, salaries, commissions, tips, bonuses, or net income from self-employment. Taxable alimony and separate maintenance payments received by an individual are treated as compensation for IRA purposes.
Compensation does not include earnings and profits from property, such as rental income, interest and dividend income, or any amount received as pension or annuity income, or as deferred compensation.
Please refer to Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), for information on the amounts you will be eligible to contribute to your IRA account and when you can make contributions.
Figure your deduction using the worksheets in the Form 1040 Instructions, Form 1040A Instructions or in Publication 590. You cannot claim an IRA deduction on Form 1040EZ; you must use either Form 1040A (PDF) or Form 1040 (PDF). If you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA you would need to attach Form 8606 (PDF), Nondeductible IRA's. Use Form 8880 (PDF), Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions, to determine whether you are also eligible for a tax credit. Enter the amount of the credit on either Form 1040A or Form 1040. You cannot use Form 1040EZ to claim this credit.
Distributions from a traditional IRA are fully or partially taxable in the year of distribution. If you made only deductible contributions, distributions are fully taxable. Use Form 8606 to figure the taxable portion of withdrawals.
Distributions made prior to age 59 1/2 may be subject to a 10% additional tax. You also may owe an excise tax if you do not begin to withdraw minimum distributions by April 1st of the year after you reach age 70 1/2. These additional taxes are figured and reported on Form 5329 (PDF). Refer to Form 5329 Instructions for exceptions to the additional taxes.
For information on conversions from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, refer to Publication 590.
A Roth IRA differs from a traditional IRA in several respects. A Roth IRA does not permit a deduction at the time of contribution. Regardless of your age, you may be able to establish and make nondeductible contributions to a Roth IRA. You do not report Roth contributions on your tax return. To be a Roth IRA, the account or annuity must be designated as a Roth IRA when it is set up. Like a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA can be set up but there are limitations on the amount that can be contributed and the time of year that contributions can be made. For more information on Roth IRA contributions, refer to Topic 309. You do not include in your gross income qualified distributions or distributions that are a return of your regular contributions from your Roth IRA(s). Refer to Publication 590 for additional information on Roth IRA(s).

IRS info on converting IRA to a Roth IRA Retirement Plans FAQs

Retirement Plans FAQs regarding IRAs


These frequently asked questions and answers provide general information and should not be cited as any type of legal authority. They provide the user with information responsive to general inquiries. Because these answers do not apply to every situation, yours may require additional research.
The freely available Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to view, print, and search the questions and answers listed below.
IRAs are the investment vehicles for IRA-based plans (e.g., SEP, SIMPLE IRA and SARSEP plans. All SEP-IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs are subject to the same investment rules as traditional IRAs. For more information on these types of plans, see the SEP FAQs, SIMPLE IRA Plan FAQs and SARSEP FAQs.

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2010 Rollovers and Conversions to a Roth IRA
Have a Question?


General
  1. Can I contribute to a traditional IRA or Roth IRA if I'm covered by a retirement plan at work?
  2. How can an individual convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?

Can I contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA if I’m covered by a retirement plan at work?
Traditional IRAsYes, you can contribute to a traditional IRA even if you participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. For 2010 and 2011, you can contribute up to $5,000 annually ($6,000 if you are 50 or older by the end of the year). However, if you or your spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan, this will affect how much, if any, of your contribution is tax-deductible. See Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), for the rules on who can contribute, what compensation to use, and when and how to make IRA contributions.
Roth IRAsYou can also contribute to a Roth IRA even if you participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. You can contribute up to $5,000 ($6,000 if you are 50 or older by the end of the year), but the amount you can contribute may be reduced or even eliminated depending on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and your filing status. For example, for 2010, you can make the maximum contribution to a Roth IRA if your filing status is married filing jointly and your MAGI is under $167,000, assuming you have at least $5,000 ($6,000) in earned income for the year. If your MAGI is between $167,000 to $177,000, your maximum Roth contribution for 2010 is reduced. You cannot make a Roth IRA contribution for 2010 if your MAGI is $177,000 or more. See the 2010 Pub. 590 for all the MAGI limits for 2010 and 2011.
Contributing to both traditional and Roth IRAsThere is no limit on the number of Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs you can own; however, your combined annual contributions to all of them cannot exceed the maximum annual contribution limit ($5,000; $6,000 if 50 or older).
If you are in a SEP or SIMPLE IRA planThe rules above also apply if you’re covered by a SEP or SIMPLE IRA plan at work. A Roth IRA cannot be used to hold contributions made under these plans, but in most cases you can make a regular traditional IRA contribution ($5,000/$6,000) to your SEP IRA.

How can an individual convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
A traditional IRA can be converted to a Roth IRA by:
Rollover - A distribution from a traditional IRA can be contributed to a Roth IRA within 60 days after distribution.
Trustee-to-trustee transfer - The financial institution holding the traditional IRA assets will provide directions on how to transfer those assets to a Roth IRA with another financial institution.
Same trustee transfer - As with the trustee-to-trustee transfer, the financial institution holding the traditional IRA assets will provide directions on how to transfer those assets to a Roth IRA. In this case, things should be simpler because the transfer occurs within the same financial institution.
A conversion results in taxation of any untaxed amounts in the traditional IRA. Also, the conversion is reported on Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs.

Start a Business with your IRA

Rollovers as Business Start-Ups

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ROBS is an arrangement in which prospective business owners use their 401 k retirement funds to pay for new business start-up costs.[1] ROBS is an acronym from the United States Internal Revenue Service for the IRS ROBS Rollovers as Business Start-Ups Compliance Project.

Gold and Silver News

Gold and Silver News

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldForecaster/1314406800.php