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401k
Five Strategies for Tax-Efficient Investing
You may be able to use losses within your investment portfolio to help offset realized gains. If your losses exceed your gains, you can offset up to $3,000 per year of the difference against ordinary income. After factoring in federal income and capital gains taxes, the alternative minimum tax, and potential state and local taxes,…
Read MoreRetirement Plans for Small Businesses
As a business owner, you should carefully consider the advantages of establishing an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Generally, you’re allowed a deduction for contributions you make to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. In return, however, you’re required to include certain employees in the plan, and to give a portion of the contributions you make to those participating…
Read MoreRetirement Plans for Small Businesses
If you’re self-employed or own a small business and you haven’t established a retirement savings plan, what are you waiting for? A retirement plan can help you and your employees save for the future. Tax advantages A retirement plan can have significant tax advantages: Your contributions are deductible when made Your contributions aren’t taxed to…
Read MoreUsing 'brokerage window' to expand 401(k) options
Do you trust your investment prowess enough to put your 401(k) plan on the line? Don Uphouse, chief finance officer of Active Minerals International in Sparks, Md., does. The 59-year-old uses his company’s brokerage window as a way to save and invest for retirement. “I’m a seasoned investor, and I enjoy picking my own stocks,”…
Read MoreUnderstanding Your Paycheck
Congratulations! You’ve just landed a new job. Here are some important things to be aware of before you receive your first paycheck. When will I receive my paycheck? How often will you be paid? Typically, your payday will depend on the company you work for and which state you work in. You might be paid…
Read MoreTrue or False: You Are a Retirement Savings Plan Expert
How much do you really know about your employer-sponsored retirement savings plan? If you’re like many people, you have many ideas about how your plan works, which may or may not be entirely accurate. To gauge your knowledge, take this brief quiz: Are the following statements true or false? Even though I’m young, I should…
Read MoreWomen and Retirement Planning
Women face special challenges when planning for retirement. Because their careers are often interrupted to care for children or elderly parents, women may spend less time in the workforce and earn less money than men in the same age group. As a result, their retirement plan balances, Social Security benefits, and pension benefits are often…
Read MoreChoosing a Beneficiary for Your IRA or 401(k)
Selecting beneficiaries for retirement benefits is different from choosing beneficiaries for other assets such as life insurance. With retirement benefits, you need to know the impact of income tax and estate tax laws in order to select the right beneficiaries. Although taxes shouldn’t be the sole determining factor in naming your beneficiaries, ignoring the impact…
Read MoreChanging Jobs? Take Your 401(k) and Roll It
If you’ve lost your job, or are changing jobs, you may be wondering what to do with your 401(k) plan account. It’s important to understand your options. What will I be entitled to? If you leave your job (voluntarily or involuntarily), you’ll be entitled to a distribution of your vested balance. Your vested balance always…
Read MoreU.S. Supreme Court Clarifies How ERISA's Duty to Monitor Plan Investments Interacts with the Six-Year Statute of Limitations
On May 18, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Tibble v. Edison International. Tibble was an employee of Edison and participated in its 401(k) plan. He and other employees sued Edison under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for breach of fiduciary duty for offering six higher-priced retail-class mutual funds as…
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