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This page is a archive of recent entries in the Retirement Benefits category.

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Recently in Retirement Benefits Category

Jeffrey Brown presented a paper titled "Automatic Lifetime Income and Retirement Income Security," today at Northwestern.  The presentation was part of Northwestern's Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  The abstract is below: This paper proposes that...

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In PLR 201008049, the IRS ruled that a murderer is the designated beneficiary of his victim's IRA, in order to determine the IRA distribution period.  In addition, the IRS ruled that it will not penalize the murder victim's stepdaughter, the...

Continue reading "PLR 201008049: Murderer Is Designated Beneficiary of Victim's IRA; No Penalty to Victim's Stepdaughter for Failure to Make Distributions "

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College has published an issue brief by Jacquelyn B. James, Elyssa Besen, Christina Matz-Costa & Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes titled "Engaged as We Age: The End of Retirement as We Know it?"  From the introduction: "In...

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If you make eligible contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or to an individual retirement arrangement, you may be eligible for a tax credit.  The IRS has released Tax Tip 2010-36 which lists the following six points about the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit:...

Continue reading "Tax Tip 2010-36: Six Facts on How to Get Credit for Retirement Savings Contributions "

Some taxpayers may have needed to take an early distribution from their retirement plan last year. The IRS wants individuals who took an early distribution to know that there can be a tax impact to tapping your retirement fund.  Tax Tip...

Continue reading "Tax Tip 2010-32: Top Ten Facts about Taking Early Distributions from Retirement Plans "

If you received Social Security benefits in 2009, you need to know whether or not these benefits are taxable. Tax Tip 2010-31 lists seven facts about Social Security benefits so you can determine whether or not they are taxable to you:...

Continue reading "Tax Tip 2010-31: Seven Facts About Social Security Benefits "

Rajni Jain and Vrinda Gupta have posted an article on SSRN titled "Pension Risk Under Extreme Scenarios - Capturing Tail Risk in Pension Schemes." The abstract is below: "In this paper, we aim to capture the tail risk - risk...

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On January 28 at the 2010 Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Natalie Choate presented an in-depth workshop on drafting retirement benefits. Choate's presentation included a checklist for drafting beneficiary designation forms, beneficiary designation forms, a trust drafting checklist, and trust...

Continue reading "Heckerling Institute: Retirement Benefits Drafting Immersion Workshop"

In IRS Legal Memorandum 201003013, the IRS ruled that a retirement savings plan owned by a Canadian decedent, is not includable in his gross estate. The retirement plan owned shares of mutual funds that in turn owned stock in U.S. corporations....

Continue reading "IRS Rules That Canadian Decedent's Retirement Savings Plan is Excludable from U.S. Gross Estate"

David C. Yamada has posted an article on SSRN titled "The Looming Twenty-First Century Generation Gap: Economic Challenges Facing Younger Workers." The abstract follows below: "Younger adults preparing to enter today's workforce face a confluence of economic challenges unknown to...

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The National Senior Citizen Law Center has published an issue brief titled "Medicaid Payment For Assisted Living: Current State Practices, and Recommendations For Improvement."  The brief argues that the design and implementation of many state Medicaid programs have led to...

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On January 26 at the 2010 Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Professor Christopher Hoyt presented a session covering Roth IRS conversion issues. Hoyt began with a comparison between traditional retirement accounts and Roth IRAs, noting that although Roth IRAs provide no...

Continue reading "Heckerling Institute: How to Structure a Roth IRA Conversion in 2010"

Bloomberg, in an article titled "Mandatory IRAs May Burden Small Employers, Business Group Says," reports that the National Small Business Association is opposed to mandatory employee enrollment in IRAs. "When small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, we oppose mandates...

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In PLR 201002023, the IRS ruled that income from a trust created by a municipality to fund medical benefits for retired employees is tax-exempt. The Service also ruled that contributions to the plan and payments from the plan are excludable from the...

Continue reading "PLR 201002023: IRS Exempts Municipal Trust Income"

Olivia Mitchell, Executive Director - Pension Research Council, has published an article titled "Implications of the Financial Crisis for Long Run Retirement Security." The abstract follows below:Managing retirement risk has become extraordinarily difficult in this era of financial turmoil, global...

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The Wall Street Journal, in Anne Tergesen's "How You Fund an IRA Conversion Through the 'Back Door,'" addresses the "back-door" method of funding a Roth IRA: (1) funding a traditional IRA and (2) converting the assets in the traditional IRA...

Continue reading "WSJ Q&A: "How You Fund an IRA Conversion Through the 'Back Door'""

The Wall Street Journal, in Anne Tergesen's "Roths: Your Questions, Our Answers," answers questions regarding Roth IRAs.  The column answers questions regarding: (1) whether a person can convert an inherited IRA, a SEP IRA, or a 401(k) account into a...

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TIAA-CREF has provided advice entitled "New Eligibility Rules Open Roth Conversions to All Investors."  The advice examines the following factors to decide who should convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA: (1) whether a taxpayer or her heirs "will...

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Harvey B. Wallace has published in the January/February edition of Probate & Property a column entitled "Retirement Benefits Planning--Update."  According to Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog, "the column focuses on Roth IRA conversions and covers the following topics: Roth...

Continue reading "Harvey B. Wallace II Column: "Retirement Benefits Planning--Update""

MarketWatch, in an article titled "Changes to your retirement plan are coming: In wake of stock-market downturn, lawmakers eager to tweak 401(k) rules," reports that Congressional lawmakers are proposing a number of new retirement-plan rules and policies. Proposed changes include...

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