by Mat Sorensen | Sep 11, 2020 | Retirement & IRAs, Uncategorized
Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from IRAs can be a burden for taxpayers, by raising your annual income levels and possibly boosting you into a higher tax bracket. Using the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) Rule, there is a way for IRA’s to do good. This rule allows IRA owners to exclude their RMDs from their annual income if given to a qualified charitable organization. Essentially, owners can deduct their RMDs on their tax returns if they give the money to a charity. A key benefit to the QCD is you pay zero tax on the distribution. That’s right, it’s a tax free distribution to a charity. You win, the charity wins, and the IRS loses.
Some of the rules and regulations are as follows:
- You MUST be age 70½ or older on the date of the distribution.
- The maximum annual exclusion per individual is $100,000.
- The charity must qualify as a 501(c)(3) organization and be eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
- Each check will be made payable to the qualified charity and list your name as donor. Note: You should follow up with the charity directly for a receipt of your donation.
To break it down further, the charitable organization must qualify as a 501(c)(3) organization, which means it is federally tax exempt as a non-profit organization. Of course the owner of the IRA can give a larger sum than $100,00 to the charity of their choosing, though any excess distributions will not be excluded from their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). It is also very important to obtain a receipt from the selected charity for tax purposes.
Mat has been at the forefront of the self-directed IRA industry since 2006. He is the CEO of Directed IRA & Directed Trust Company where they handle all types of self-directed accounts (IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSAs, Coverdell ESA, Solo Ks, and Custodial Accounts) which are typically invested into real estate, private company/private equity, IRA/LLCs, notes, precious metals, and cryptocurrency. Mat is also a partner at KKOS Lawyers and serves clients nationwide from its Phoenix, AZ office.
He is published regularly on retirement, tax, and business topics, and is a VIP Contributor at Entrepreneur.com. Mat is the best-selling author of the most widely used book in the self-directed IRA industry, The Self-Directed IRA Handbook: An Authoritative Guide for Self-Directed Retirement Plan Investors and Their Advisors.
by Mat Sorensen | Mar 31, 2020 | Retirement & IRAs, Uncategorized
From my article on Entrepreneur.
The coronavirus stimulus bill signed into law on March 27 creates new exceptions that allow 401(k) and IRA owners affected by the pandemic to tap into their retirement accounts early. The new law increases the dollar amount you can loan yourself from your own 401(k) from $50,000 to $100,000 and also creates a penalty-free early distribution rule whereby IRA or 401(k) account owners under age 59-and-a-half can take a penalty-free retirement account distribution of up to $100,000. Read the article on Entrepreneur here.
by Mat Sorensen | Jan 7, 2020 | Real Estate & Alternative Asset Investing , Retirement & IRAs
The SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump at the end of 2019, and makes sweeping changes to the laws affecting retirement plans, including IRAs. The law, known as the SECURE Act, is a mixed bag of good, bad, and ugly. This article breaks down the details that IRA owners need to know moving forward.
The Good
RMD Age Raised to 72
- Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are no longer required until the IRA owner reaches 72. Prior to the new law, RMDs were required once the account owner reached age 70½. By extending the RMD requirement to 72, IRA owners can delay taking distributions from the IRA by an additional 1½ years. This is a good thing as you can let more money grow tax-deferred. The 70½ year rule was also confusing, as it takes a while to do the math and figure out what year you turn 70½. It used to be the only half-birthday you had to keep track of. There is still no RMD requirement on Roth IRAs. If you already reached 70½ in 2019 or earlier, and haven taken out previous distributions, then you continue taking distributions as usual (even if you aren’t yet 72).
IRA Age Limit for Contributions Removed
- There is no longer an age restriction on when you can contribute to an IRA. Prior to the law, Traditional IRA contributions were restricted once you reached RMD age of 70½. Under the new law, there is no longer a restriction (even when you each 72). This means older IRA owners who are still working or have earned income can continue to contribute to a Traditional IRA.
Exception to 10% Early Withdrawal Penalty for Birth or Adoption
- A new exception to the 10% early withdrawal penalty was added in the case of the birth or adoption of a child. This is limited to $5,000, but will allow new parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from any IRA or other retirement account without having a 10% early withdrawal penalty apply. Taxes would still be due on Traditional (pre-tax) funds withdrawn, but the 10% penalty is waived.
The Bad
The Stretch IRA Has Been Gutted
- The Stretch IRA, whereby a non-spouse could inherit an IRA or Roth IRA and take distributions over their lifetime, has been gutted. While a non-spouse can still inherit an IRA or Roth IRA, the account (in most instances) must be distributed in 10 years. There are no annual distributions required under this new rule over the 10-year period. Instead, the total account balance just needs to be distributed in 10 years. So, if you inherit an IRA in 2020 or later, then you will have 10 years to continue investing the account and you can take distributions whenever you want (or just at the end) with the full amount being distributed within 10 years. There are some persons who can still use the old Stretch IRA rules, but these groups are limited and include: Disabled or chronically ill persons, minor children inheriting, and beneficiaries not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner.
The Ugly
The elimination of the Stretch IRA was bad and ugly. What else can I say? The only good news is that those who have already inherited one in 2019 or earlier can still operate as usual. Everyone else who looked forward to one will have to take solace in the fact that they at least have 10 years of “stretching” to continue investing the funds in a tax-free (Roth) or tax-deferred (Traditional) manner. And, under the new rule, there is no RMD rule in effect each year. Instead, the total amount must be distributed at the end of 10 years. This makes things a little easier with self-directed assets and also helps any IRA owner – 10 years is still a good amount of time – get a little bit of additional tax-deferred (Traditional) or tax-free (Roth) growth.
At Directed IRA we are a custodian of inherited Traditional IRAs and inherited Roth IRAs, we are keenly aware of the changes and are helping our clients understand the new rules. Please reach out and gives us a call ((602) 899-9396) if you have questions on these new rules.
Mat has been at the forefront of the self-directed IRA industry since 2006. He is the CEO of Directed IRA & Directed Trust Company where they handle all types of self-directed accounts (IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSAs, Coverdell ESA, Solo Ks, and Custodial Accounts) which are typically invested into real estate, private company/private equity, IRA/LLCs, notes, precious metals, and cryptocurrency. Mat is also a partner at KKOS Lawyers and serves clients nationwide from its Phoenix, AZ office.
He is published regularly on retirement, tax, and business topics, as well as a VIP Contributor at Entrepreneur.com. Mat is the best-selling author of the most widely used book in the self-directed IRA industry, The Self-Directed IRA Handbook: An Authoritative Guide for Self-Directed Retirement Plan Investors and Their Advisors.
by Mat Sorensen | Aug 13, 2019 | Real Estate & Alternative Asset Investing , Retirement & IRAs
If you’ve inherited an IRA from a parent or another loved one, it is likely that you have an Inherited IRA (aka, Beneficiary IRA). These can be powerful accounts, but you need to understand the Required Minimum Distribution (“RMD”) rules for your Inherited IRA to properly utilize it. The inherited IRA may be a Traditional or Roth IRA, and there are three different distribution options you may elect when you inherit the IRA. These distribution options dictate how you can invest the account. Please note that if you inherit an account from a spouse, you can just do a spousal rollover and consider the account as yours. This article is for those inheriting an IRA from a non-spouse.
Distribution Options
You will have three distribution options upon the death of your loved one to receive the funds from their IRA. In general, the best option is the “Life Expectancy Method” as it allows you to delay the withdrawal of funds from the IRA, and allows the money invested to grow tax-deferred (Traditional) or tax-free (Roth). The three options are outlined fully below:
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Lump Sum
The first option is to simply take a lump-sum and be taxed on the full distribution. There is no 10% early withdrawal penalty (regardless of your age or the deceased owner), but you are taxed on the amount distributed if it is a Traditional IRA. You’re also giving up the tax-deferred (Traditional) or tax-free (Roth) benefits of the account. Don’t take this option. It’s the worst tax and financial option available to you.
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Life Expectancy Method – Stretch IRA
The Life Expectancy Method is the best option. Under this option, you take distributions from the inherited IRA over your lifetime based on the value of the account. These distributions are required for Traditional IRAs and even for inherited Roth IRAs. For example, if you inherited a $100,000 IRA at age 50, you would have to take about $3,000 a year as a required minimum distribution each year and the rest can stay invested. The RMD amount changes each year as you age and as the account value grows or decreases. There is no 10% early withdrawal penalty when you pull money out of the account regardless of your age. Traditional Inherited IRA distributions are taxable to the Beneficiary while Roth IRA distributions are tax-free. And yes, Inherited Roth IRAs are subject to RMD even though there is no RMD for regular Roth IRAs.
There is pending legislation which the House has passed, but the Senate has sat on, which would limit the ability to stretch the IRA out to a maximum of 10 years. Even if that legislation passes, the Stretch IRA will be a good option to at least continue the tax benefits of the inherited IRA for 10 years.
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Five-Year Method
This option is available to all inherited Roth accounts, but is only available to inherited Traditional IRAs where the deceased account owner was under age 70 1/2 at the date of their death. Under this option, the Inherited IRA is not subject to RMD. However, it must be fully distributed by December 31st of the fifth year following the year of the account owner’s death. There is no 10% early withdrawal penalty, and distributions are subject to tax. Again, this option is only available to Traditional accounts.
Investing with a Self-Directed Inherited IRA
Yes, you can self-direct your Inherited IRA (aka, beneficiary IRA). Before you do, make sure you understand the amount of funds you’ll need to take as an RMD, and that you will have available cash in the account to cover those RMDs. As I described above, assume you are 50 and inherited an Inherited IRA for $100,000. You will need to take annual distributions of around $3,000. So, if you invest all of the $100,000 into an illiquid asset, then you will be unable to take RMDs and you will force the IRA account to pay stiff penalties. Consequently, when making a self-directed investment from an Inherited IRA, you must take into account the amount of the investment, the total value of the account, and the timeline of the investment (when will it generate cash back to the IRA). If you inherited the $100,000 account above, you may decide to only invest $70,000 of the Inherited IRA into an illiquid investment (e.g. real estate or private company), while leaving the other $30,000 to be invested into liquid investments like publicly-traded stocks, CDs, cash or mutual funds. This will leave funds available for RMD until such time as the illiquid investment generates income or is sold for profit.
Stretching out the benefits of an inherited IRA can be powerful, but make sure you plan for RMDs before you make any self-directed investments from your Inherited IRA.
Self-directed Inherited IRA accounts can be set-up at Directed IRA in as little as five minutes on-line at www.directedira.com.
Mat has been at the forefront of the self-directed IRA industry since 2006. He is the CEO of Directed IRA & Directed Trust Company where they handle all types of self-directed accounts (IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSAs, Coverdell ESA, Solo Ks, and Custodial Accounts) which are typically invested into real estate, private company/private equity, IRA/LLCs, notes, precious metals, and cryptocurrency. Mat is also a partner at KKOS Lawyers and serves clients nationwide from its Phoenix, AZ office.
He is published regularly on retirement, tax, and business topics, and is a VIP Contributor at Entrepreneur.com. Mat is the best-selling author of the most widely used book in the self-directed IRA industry, The Self-Directed IRA Handbook: An Authoritative Guide for Self-Directed Retirement Plan Investors and Their Advisors.
