IRAs

Ever had that sinking feeling around Tax Day? It's way more common than you think. One of my clients, “Deadline-Danielle,” a sharp project manager, called me in a flat panic last April. “Michael,” she said, “I meant to max out my Roth for last year, but my bonus pushed...

A Roth IRA contribution is new money put directly into a Roth IRA for a specific tax year. For 2026, the IRS says the combined annual limit for traditional and Roth IRA contributions is , or $8,600 if you're age 50 or older. Your allowable Roth contribution can be...

Starting a Roth IRA is not one decision. It is a short sequence: make sure a direct Roth contribution fits your situation, choose a provider, open the account, move money into it, invest that money, and set up the next contribution. The part beginners most often miss is that...

Most RMD calculators can answer one question pretty quickly: “How much is my required minimum distribution from this account?” That is useful. Sometimes that is literally all you want. But the harder RMD question usually comes next: “Okay... I have multiple IRAs, an old 401(k), I already took some money out,...

Inherited IRA RMD rules in 2026 do not give every beneficiary the same answer. For many non-spouse beneficiaries, the account must be emptied by the end of the 10th year after death. But whether you also need annual required minimum distributions (RMDs) during that 10-year window depends heavily on...

A spousal IRA is not a special retirement account and it is not a joint IRA. It is the IRS rule that can let a married couple filing jointly use the couple's combined taxable compensation to support IRA contributions for both spouses, even when one spouse earns little or...

No. A required minimum distribution (RMD) is not earned income. You do not create wages, self-employment income, or IRA-contribution compensation by taking money out of a retirement account. But the taxable portion of an RMD is generally included in ordinary income, which means it can still change your adjusted...

Yes, you can combine some RMDs, but not all of them. For your own traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs, you calculate the required minimum distribution for each IRA separately, then you can generally take the combined total from one or more of those IRAs. Multiple 403(b) accounts have a...

Roth conversion rules determine whether the transaction is eligible, how much is taxable, which tax year it belongs to, how it is reported, and what restrictions apply after the conversion. There is no income cap on Roth conversions, but account type, basis, RMDs, deadlines, reporting forms and five-year rules...

A Roth IRA recharacterization lets you treat a regular IRA contribution as if you had originally made it to the other type of IRA. A Roth contribution can become a Traditional IRA contribution, or a Traditional contribution can become Roth, if you meet the timing and eligibility rules. What it...