IRA Archives - Jerry Golden on Retirement

Defuse the tax bomb that threatens retirement

October 25, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Annuity 2 Comments Tags: Annuities, IRA, retirement income, tax planning

It makes sense that everyone’s retirement plans should be different and adjusted to personal circumstances. If you have lots of children and have already paid for several college bills, for instance, you might have less home equity than your neighbors. If you have built up large stock holdings, you will be thinking about how to manage market risk.

A constant for every portfolio, though, is taxes.

If a portion of your earnings was set aside in your 401(k) or IRA, that doesn’t mean taxes were forgiven — they were only deferred. And if the investment earnings on these savings or in deferred annuities were not taxed currently, you will still owe money to the IRS at some point in the future. Lastly, if you’ve got appreciated securities in your personal savings, you’ll owe taxes when you sell them.

I call it the “tax bomb.” More

White House Conference on Aging Recognizes Value of Income Annuities for Retirement Security

January 19, 2016 By Jerry Golden in Interesting Articles 2 Comments Tags: Annuities, Guaranteed Income, IRA, personal savings

The White House Conference on Aging that concluded this month was remarkable for its acknowledgement that too few Americans are assured of a secure late-in-life retirement. The conference did not, however, fully spell out how to solve the problems it raised.

The conference’s final report also concluded that the three-legged stool of Social Security, personal savings and employer savings arrangements is a little wobbly, putting millions of retirees in danger of running out of money in old age. In addition, as retirees age they often see their incomes fall and face unplanned medical and long-term care costs–thus magnifying the problem.

The Conference on Aging listed the favorable qualities of annuities, mentioning that income annuities “reduce the risks that retirees will outlive their savings or that their living standards will be eroded by investment losses or inflation.” More

New Year’s Wishes for Retirement Regulations

January 8, 2014 By Jerry Golden in Interesting Articles, Social Security Tags: IRA, retirement, Rollover IRA, Social Security, Social Security Reform

The start of the New Year signifies a time of change in our lives, where we resolve to better ourselves after the knowledge and experience gained from the previous one.. Apart from the resolutions of self-betterment that we all seem to make, I would hope to see changes to retirement related laws and regulations, which could benefit us all.

Due to more pressing matters in Washington; I do not foresee any specific reforms to retirement, unless it is part of a “grand bargain” that addresses long term debt and fiscal issues. However, there are several changes that I would like to see, which could ultimately better the current state of retirement.

Reform Social Security that would take long term financing issues off the table. There are many reasonable approaches that could work, including my proposal of updating Social Security to the new realities of older American workers.
Change the taxation of income annuities to encourage middle market retirees to reduce investment risk and increase cash flow by electing lifetime payouts.
Limit the excessive accumulation in Rollover IRA’s. Require faster and earlier distribution rather than restricting the types of investment or contributions.
Improve the disclosure for complex annuity products. Requires better coordination between State insurance and Federal securities regulators.
Define the fiduciary responsibility of anyone advising investors regarding retirement matters.

Whether or not these changes will come to fruition in 2014, I believe these five alterations to retirement laws and regulations could largely benefit any current or future retirees.

On behalf of the Golden Retirement team, we would like to wish you all a safe and happy New Year.