401k

401k
Retirement
Retirement Accounts
Top Stock Market News

3 mistakes to avoid in managing your 401(k)

If you don’t use the account properly, you might not save enough or could pay unnecessary fees and penalties. / Credit: Getty Images Having enough money in retirement often requires decades of careful planning, saving and investing. For many Americans, retirement planning runs through their employers via 401(k) plans. These vehicles enable employees to direct […]

Read More
401k
401k Rollover

401(k) vs. Pension Plan: What’s the Difference?

401(k) vs. Pension Plan: An Overview A 401(k) and a pension are both employer-sponsored retirement plans. The most significant difference between the two is that a 401(k) is a defined-contribution plan, and a pension is a defined-benefit plan. A defined-contribution plan allows employees and employers (if they choose) to contribute and invest funds to save […]

Read More
401k
401k Rollover

408(k) Plans vs. 401(k) Plans

The 401(k) retirement plan is the most widely known and used employer-sponsored retirement plan. The 408(k) is another type of employer-directed retirement plan in which small business employees can participate. It is also called the simplified employee retirement plan (SEP-IRA). Both the 401(k) and the 408(k) refer to sections of the Internal Revenue Service Tax […]

Read More
401k
Retirement
Retirement Accounts

With a turbulent Dow, what should you do with your 401(k) retirement account?

Exhale. That’s the advice from several financial experts across the country who said that investors shouldn’t do anything rash with their 401(k) retirement accounts amid a turbulent 2022 stock market. That turbulence was evident this week. The markets rebounded Friday after going into another tailspin the day before. That’s when a historic plunge in the […]

Read More
401k

Do 401(k) plans unfairly help the wealthy?

As claims go, it’s a bold one. Over the course of 82 pages, Michael Doran, a much-beloved but press-shy professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who also worked for the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department under two different administrations, makes the following case: “Over the past twenty-five years, […]

Read More
401k
401k Rollover
401k Taxes
Retirement Accounts
Retirement Planning

How Is Your 401(k) Taxed When You Retire?

When you withdraw funds from your 401(k)—or “take distributions,” in IRS lingo—you begin to enjoy the income from this retirement mainstay and face its tax consequences. For most people, and with most 401(k)s, distributions are taxed as ordinary income. However, the tax burden you’ll incur varies by the type of account you have: traditional or Roth 401(k), […]

Read More
401k
401k Rollover
Roth IRA

401(k) to Roth IRA Conversion: Rules & Regulations

If you’re considering leaving a job, and you have a 401(k) plan, you need to stay on top of the various rollover options for your workplace retirement account. One of those options is rolling over a traditional 401(k) into a Roth IRA. This can be a very attractive option, especially if your future earnings will […]

Read More
401k
401k Rollover

What Happens to a 401(k) After You Leave Your Job?

After you leave your job, there are several options for your 401(k). You may be able to leave your account where it is. Alternatively, you may roll over the money from the old 401(k) into your new employer’s plan, or roll it into an individual retirement account (IRA). You can also take some or all […]

Read More
401k
Retirement Accounts
Retirement Planning

Avoid this costly 401(k) blunder

I have just been talking to the so-called “father of the 401(k),” and he’s not happy. It’s more than 40 years since Ted Benna helped launch the famous tax-deferred savings plans that now dominate the U.S. retirement market. But today, he says, these plans are being aggressively missold to sole proprietors and small businesses owners by […]

Read More
401k
Retirement
Retirement Accounts
Retirement Planning

Are Roth 401(k)s Still a Good Deal? When to Use Them—and When to Pass.

Everythingpossible/Dreamstime Sometimes it’s better to get taxes out of the way earlier when using a 401(k) to save for retirement. Financial planner David Born of Orinda, Calif., advises a couple in the top tax bracket who contribute to Roth 401(k)s rather than traditional 401(k)s, even though it means they pay more in taxes now. The […]

Read More
401k
Retirement Planning

It’s no stimulus check, but 17 million Americans are missing out on free money

It’s no stimulus check, but 17 million Americans are missing out on free money The promise of free money is typically pretty alluring. After all, the stimulus checks Congress handed out during the early months of the pandemic were enormously popular, and nearly 3 million people have signed a petition calling for more. So why, […]

Read More
401k
Retirement
Retirement Accounts
Retirement Living
Retirement Planning

I failed at retirement. How to avoid my mistakes

It’s embarrassing to admit in a public forum that I failed at retirement. But I’m doing so—because I think people can learn from me, and thereby avoid making the same mistakes. I spent my entire 38-year career in the banking industry. Naturally, I learned a lot about money and investing. I helped thousands of clients […]

Read More
401k
Social Security

Can Your 401(k) Impact Your Social Security Benefits?

The income you receive from your 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan does not affect the amount of Social Security retirement benefits you receive each month. However, you may be required to pay taxes on some or all of your benefits if your annual income exceeds a certain threshold—and your 401(k) distributions can cause it […]

Read More
401k
Retirement
Retirement Accounts
Roth IRA

Tax-Savvy Investment Strategies for Retirement Accounts

While most people receive Social Security, a secure financial retirement depends on also having significant savings in a retirement account. Typically these savings must last nearly 20 years (assuming the average age for retirement is 63, and the average life expectancy as of 2021 for someone who reaches that age is 12.1 more years for […]

Read More
X