If you have IRAs and accounts in qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans), you must begin to take distributions by a set time or pay a hefty 50% penalty on insufficient withdrawals. The rules...

Instead of using your refund to pay down credit card debt or take a vacation, contribute to any of these 4 alternatives:A deductible IRA. Your refund will generate another tax deduction. A Roth...

Understanding taxes is complicated, more so by the fact tax pros and the IRS often use abbreviations to denote various tax terms. To better utilize tax breaks and opportunities, it’s helpful to know...

Those who have an IRA or qualified plan benefits must take distributions under required minimum distribution (RMD) rules. When distributions are required but not taken, there is a hefty 50% penalty on...

Investments within your IRA determine how much income you’ll have from your IRA in retirement. The better your investments do, the greater your income. However, the tax law restricts the type of inv...

The tax law usually restricts the ability to benefit tax-wise from an expenditure to one tax break. This break may be an exclusion from income, a tax deduction, or a tax credit. However, there is one ...

Soon, you'll be focusing on your 2011 tax return. But before you do, start thinking ahead to 2012 so you can take advantage of opportunities for this year. Here are some of the changes to know so that...

Distributions can be taken from an IRA before age 59û if the funds are used to pay qualified higher education costs for yourself, your spouse, or dependent. The Tax Court has said that funds used to ...

You may be able to use money in your IRA toward the cost of buying a home without incurring an early distribution penalty from your IRA. The withdrawal is subject to regular income tax, but you avoid ...

The tax law creates incentives to encourage retirement savings. These incentives only go so far...

There is a special break for those age 70û and older. Such individuals can make direct transfers (rollovers) of distributions from their IRAs to a public charity and avoid any income tax on such dist...

If you contribute to a retirement plan through your company or to an IRA, you may be eligible to claim a tax credit of up to 50% of contributions up to $2,000, for a top credit of $1,000. This credit ...

If you take a distribution from your IRA and plan to make a rollover, you have 60 days to complete the action. Watch the calendar closely because if you miss the deadline by even 1 day, the entire dis...

You can transfer funds from one IRA to another without any current tax. There are no dollar limits on the amount you can roll over each year.There are two ways in which to make the transfer:D...

Assume you qualify to make either a traditional or Roth IRA contribution. Which is better for you? Keep in mind that you can contribute to both in the same year, as long as your total contributions do...

If your investments turn out to be unsound and you lose money, you generally can't deduct the loss. For example, if you put $5,000 of your IRA money into a mutual fund that declines in value to $800, ...

You are prohibited from borrowing from your IRA or using it as collateral for a loan. If you do so, the amount borrowed or used as collateral is treated as a taxable distribution to you (and can be su...

You can invest your IRA contributions in a wide array of investment vehicles, including certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. You can even invest in real estate if you avoid self-d...

If you contribute to an IRA but later determine that your income prevents you from claiming the IRA deduction reported on your return (e.g., you are an active plan participant and a later IRS audit in...

If you need funds from your IRA before you retire, you may be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty. This penalty applies if you take money out before age 59û, unless you meet one of the follow...