Do You Have Enough To Retire? The 60 Second Calculation
Do you have enough to retire? Believe it or not, as financial planners, we can often answer that question in LESS THAN 60 SECONDS just by asking a handful of questions. In this video, I’m going to walk you through the 60-second calculation.
Do you have enough to retire? Believe it or not, as financial planners, we can often answer that question in LESS THAN 60 SECONDS just by asking a handful of questions. In this video, I’m going to walk you through the 60-second calculation.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
New Age 60 – 63 401(k) Enhanced Catch-up Contribution Starting in 2025
Good news for 401(k) and 403(b) plan participants turning age 60 – 63 starting in 2025: there is now an enhanced employee catch-up contribution thanks to Secure Act 2.0 that passed back in 2022. For 2025, the employee contributions limits are as follows: Employee Deferral Limit $23,500, Age 50+ Catch-up Limit $7,500, and the New Age 60 – 63 Catch-up: $3,750.
Good news for 401(k) and 403(b) plan participants turning age 60 – 63 starting in 2025: there is now an enhanced employee catch-up contribution thanks to Secure Act 2.0 that passed back in 2022. For 2025, the employee contributions limits are as follows:
Employee Deferral Limit: $23,500
Age 50+ Catch-up: $7,500
New Age 60 – 63 Catch-up: $3,750
401K Age 60 – 63 Catch-up Contribution
Under the old rules, in 2025, a 401(k) plan participant age 60 – 63 would have been limited to the employee deferral limit of $23,500 plus the age 50+ catch-up of $7,500 for a total employee contribution of $31,000.
However, thanks to the passing of the Secure Act in 2022, an additional catch-up contribution will be introduced to employer-sponsored qualified retirement plans, only available to employees age 60 – 63, equal to “50% of the regular catch-up contribution for that plan year”. In 2025, the catch-up contribution is $7,500, making the additional catch-up contribution for employees age 60 – 63 $3,750 ($7,500 x 50%). Thus, a plan participant age 60 – 63 would be able to contribute the regular employee deferral limit of $23,500, plus the normal age 50+ catch-up of $7,500, PLUS the new age 60 – 63 catch-up contribution of $3,750, for a total employee contribution of $34,750 in 2025.
Age 64 – Revert Back To Normal 401(k) Catch-up Limit
This is a very odd way to assess a special catch-up contribution because it is ONLY available to employees between the ages of 60 and 63. In the year the 401(k) plan participant obtains age 64, the new additional age 60 – 63 contribution is completely eliminated. Here is a quick list of the contribution limits for 2025 based on an employee’s age:
Under Age 50: $23,500
Age 50 – 59: $31,000
Age 60 – 63: $34,750
Age 64+: $31,000
The Year The Employee OBTAINS Age 60 – 63
The employee just has to OBTAIN age 60 – 63 during that year to be eligible for the enhanced catch-up contribution. The enhanced catch-up contribution is not pro-rated based on WHEN the employee turns age 60. For example, if an employee turns 60 on December 31st, they are eligible to make the full $3,750 additional catch-up contribution for the year.
By that same token, if the employee turns age 64 by December 31st, they are no longer allowed to make the new enhanced catch-up contribution for that year.
Optional Provision At The Plan Level
The new 60 – 63 enhanced catch-up contribution is an OPTIONAL provision for qualified retirement plans, meaning some employers may allow this new enhanced catch-up contribution while others may not. If no action is taken by the employer sponsoring the plan, be default, the new age 60 – 63 catch-up contributions starting in 2025 will be allowed.
If an employer prefers to opt out of allowing employees ages 60 – 63 from making this new enhanced catch-up contribution, they will need to contact their TPA firm (third-party administrator) as soon as possible to amend their plan to disallow this new type of employee contributions starting in 2025.
Contact Payroll Company
Since this a brand new 401(k) employee contribution starting in 2025, we strongly recommend that plan sponsors reach out to their payroll company to make sure they are aware that your plan will either ALLOW or NOT ALLOW this new age 60 – 63 catch-up contribution, so the payroll system doesn’t incorrectly cap employees age 60 – 63 from making the additional catch-up contribution.
Formula: 50% of Normal Catch-up Contribution
For future years, the formula for this age 60 – 63 enhanced catch-up contribution is 50% of the regular catch-up contribution limit. The IRS usually announces the updated 401(k) contribution limits in either October or November of each year for the following calendar year. For example, if the IRS announces that the new catch-up limit in 2026 is $8,000, the enhanced age 60 – 63 catch-up contribution would be $4,000 over the regular $8,000 catch-up limit.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Surrendering an Annuity: Beware of Taxes and Surrender Fees
There are many reasons why individuals decide to surrender their annuities. Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons that we see is when individuals realize that they were sold the annuity by a broker and that annuity investment was either not in their best interest or they discover that there are other investment solutions that will better meet the investment objectives. This situation can often lead to individuals making the tough decision to cut their losses and surrender the annuity. But before surrendering their annuity, it’s important for investors to understand the questions to ask the annuity company about the surrender fees and potential tax liability before making e the final decision to end their annuity contract.
There are many reasons why individuals decide to surrender their annuities. Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons that we see is that individuals realize they were sold the annuity by a broker that was either not in their best interest, or they discover that there are other investment solutions that will better meet their investment objectives. This situation can often lead to individuals making the tough decision to cut their losses and surrender the annuity. But before surrendering their annuity, it’s important for investors to understand the questions to ask the annuity company about the surrender fees and potential tax liability before making the final decision to end their annuity contract.
Surrender Fee Schedule
Most annuities have what are called “surrender fees,” which are fees that are charged against the account balance in the annuity if the contract is terminated within a specific number of years. The surrender fee schedule varies greatly from annuity to annuity. Some have a 5-year surrender schedule, others have a 7-year surrender schedule, and some have 8+ year surrender fees. Typically, the amount of the surrender fees decreases over time, but the fees can be very high within the first few years of obtaining the annuity contract.
For example, an annuity may have a 7-year surrender fee schedule that is as follows:
Year 1: 8%
Year 2: 7%
Year 3: 6%
Year 4: 5%
Year 5: 4%
Year 6: 3%
Year 7: 3%
Year 8+: 0%
If you purchased an annuity with this surrender fee schedule and two years after purchasing the annuity you realize it was not the optimal investment solution for you, you would incur a 7% surrender fee. If your annuity had a $100,000 value, the annuity company would assess a $7,000 surrender fee when you cancel your contract and move your account.
When It Makes Sense To Pay The Surrender Fee
In some cases, it may make financial sense to pay the surrender fee to get rid of the annuity and just move your money into a more optimal investment solution. If a client has had an annuity for 6 years and they would only incur a 3% surrender fee to cancel the annuity, it may make sense to pay the 3% surrender fee as opposed to waiting 2 more years to surrender the annuity contract without a surrender fee. For example, if the annuity contract is only expected to produce a 4% rate of return over the next year, but they have another investment solution that is expected to produce an 8%+ rate of return over that same one-year period, it may make sense to just surrender the annuity and pay the 3% surrender fee, so they can start earning those higher rates of return sooner, which essentially more than covers the surrender fee that they paid to the annuity company.
Potential Tax Liability Associated with Annuity Surrender
An investor may or may not incur a tax liability when they surrender their annuity contract. Assuming the annuity is a non-qualified annuity, if the cash surrender value is not more than an investor's original investment, then there would not be a tax liability associated with the surrender process because the annuity contract did not create any “gain” in value for the investor. However, if the cash surrender value is greater than the initial investment in the contract, then the investors would trigger a realized gain when they surrender the contract, which is taxed at an ordinary income tax rate. Annuity investments do not receive long-term capital gain preferential tax treatment for contacts held for more than 12 months like stocks and other investments held in brokerage accounts. The gains are always taxed as ordinary income rates because it’s technically an insurance contract.
Not all annuity companies list your total “cost basis” on your statement. Often, we advise clients to call the annuity company to obtain their cost basis in the policy and have the annuity company tell them whether or not there would be a tax liability if they surrendered the annuity contract. You can call the annuity company directly; you do not need to call the broker that sold you the annuity.
If there is no tax liability associated with surrendering the contract, surrendering the contract can be an easy decision for an investor. However, if there is a large tax liability associated with surrendering an annuity, some tax planning may be required. There are tax strategies associated with surrendering annuities that have unrealized gains, such as if you are close to retirement, you could wait to surrender the annuity until the year that you are fully retired, making the taxable gain potentially subject to a lower tax rate. We have had clients that have surrendered an annuity, incurred a $15,000 taxable gain, and then turned around and contributed $15,000 more, pre-tax, to their 401(k) account at work, which offset the additional taxable income from the annuity surrender in that tax year.
Is Paying The Surrender Fee and Taxes Worth It?
For investors who face either a surrender fee, taxes, or both when surrendering an annuity contract, the decision of whether or not to surrender the annuity contract comes down to whether or not paying those taxes and/or penalties is worth it, just to get out of that annuity that was not the right fit in the first place. Or maybe it was the right investment when you first purchased it, but now your investment needs have changed, or there is a better investment opportunity elsewhere. If there are no surrender fees and minimal tax liability, the decision can be very easy, but when large surrender fees and/or tax liability exists, additional analysis is often required to determine if delaying the surrender of the annuity contract makes sense.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Why Do Wealthy Families Set Up Foundations and How Do They Work?
When a business owner sells their business and is looking for a large tax deduction and has charitable intent, a common solution is setting up a private foundation to capture a large tax deduction. In this video, we will cover how foundations work, what is the minimum funding amount, the tax benefits, how the foundation is funded, and more…….
When a business owner sells their business or a corporate executive receives a windfall in W2 compensation, some of these individuals will set up and fund a private foundation to capture a significant tax deduction, and potentially pre-fund their charitable giving for the rest of their lives and beyond. In this video, David Wojeski of the Wojeski Company CPA firm and Michael Ruger of Greenbush Financial Group will be covering the following topics regarding setting up a private foundation:
What is a private foundation
Why do wealthy individuals set up private foundations
What are the tax benefits associated with contributing to a private foundation
Minimum funding amount to start a private foundation
Private foundation vs. Donor Advised Fund vs. Direct Charitable Contributions
Putting family members on the payroll of the foundation
What is the process of setting up a foundation, tax filings, and daily operations
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Tax-Loss Harvesting Rules: Short-Term vs Long-Term, 30-Day Wash Rule, $3,000 Tax Deduction, and More…….
As an investment firm, November and December is considered “tax-loss harvesting season” where we work with our clients to identify investment losses that can be used to offset capital gains that have been realized throughout the year in an effort to reduce their tax liability for the year. But there are a lot of IRS rule surrounding what “type” of realized losses can be used to offset realized gains and retail investors are often unaware of these rules which can lead to errors in their lost harvesting strategies.
As an investment firm, November and December is considered “tax-loss harvesting season”, where we work with our clients to identify investment losses that can be used to offset capital gains that have been realized throughout the year to reduce their tax liability for the year. But there are a lot of IRS rules surrounding what “type” of realized losses can be used to offset realized gains, and retail investors are often unaware of these rules which can lead to errors in their lost harvesting strategies. In this article, we will cover loss harvesting rules for:
Realized Short-term Gains
Realized Long-term Gains
Mutual Fund Capital Gains Distributions
The $3,000 Annual Realized Loss Income Deduction
Loss Carryforward Rules
Wash Sale Rules
Real Estate Investments
Business Gains or Losses
Short-Term vs Long-Term Gain and Losses
Investment gains and losses fall into two categories: Long-Term and Short-Term. Any investment, whether it’s a stock, mutual fund, or real estate, if you buy it and then sell it within 12 months, that gain or loss is classified as a “short-term” capital gain or loss and is taxed to you as ordinary income.
If you make an investment and hold it for more than 1 year before selling it, your gain or loss is classified as a “long-term” capital gain or loss. If it’s a gain, it’s taxed at the preferential long-term capital gains rates. The long-term capital gains tax rate that you pay varies based on the amount of your income for the year (including the amount of the long-term capital gain). For 2024, here is the table:
Note: For individuals in the top tax bracket, there is a 3.8% Medicare surcharge added on top of the federal 20% long-term capital gains tax rate, so the top long-term capital gains rate ends up being 23.8%. For individuals that live in states with income tax, many do not have special tax rates for long-term capital gains and they are simply taxed as additional ordinary income at the state level.
What Is Year End Loss Harvesting?
Loss harvesting is a tax strategy where investors intentionally sell investments that have lost value to generate a realized loss to offset a realized gain that they may have experienced in another investment. Example, if a client sold Nvidia stock in May 2024 and realized a long-term capital gain of $100,000 in November and they look at their investment portfolio an notice that their Plug Power stock has an unrealized loss of $100,000, if they sell the Plug Power stock and generate a $100,000 realized loss, it would completely wipes out the tax liability on the $100,000 gain that they realized on the sale of their Nvidia stock earlier in the year.
Loss harvesting is not an all or nothing strategy. In that same example above, even if that client only had $30,000 in unrealized losses in Plug Power, realizing the loss would at least offset some of the $100,000 realized gain in their Nvidia stock sale.
Long-Term Losses Only Offset Long-Term Gains
It's common for investors to have both short-term realized capital gains and long-term realized capital gains in a given tax year. It’s important for investors to understand that there are specific IRS rules as to what TYPE of investment losses offset investment gains. For example, realized long-term losses can only be used to offset realized long-term capital gains. You cannot use realized long-term losses to offset a short-term capital gain.
Short-Term Losses Can Offset Both Short-Term & Long-Term Gain
However, realized short-term losses can be used to offset EITHER short-term or long-term capital gains. If an investor has both short-term and long-term gains, the short-term realized losses are first used to offset any short-term gains, and then the remainder is used to offset the long-term gains.
Loss Carryforward
What happens when your realized loss is greater than your realized gain? You have what’s called a “loss carryforward”. If you have unused realized investment losses, those unused losses can be used to offset investment gains in future tax years. Example, Joe sells company XYZ and has a $30,000 realized long-term loss. The only other investment income that Joe has is a short-term gain of $5,000. Since you cannot use a long-term loss to offset a short-term gain, Joe’s $30,000 in realized long-term losses cannot be used in this tax year. However, that $30,000 loss will carryforward to the next tax year, and if Joe has a long-term realized gain of $40,000 that next year, he can use the $30,000 carryforward loss to offset a larger portion of that $40,000 realized gain.
When do carryforward losses expire? Answer: never (except for when you pass away). The carryforward loss will continue until you have a gain to offset it.
$3,000 Capital Loss Annual Tax Deduction
Even if you have no realized capital gains for the year, it may still make sense from a tax standpoint to generate a $3,000 realized loss from your investment accounts because the IRS allows you deduct up to $3,000 per year in capital losses against your ordinary income. Both short-term and long-term losses qualify toward that $3,000 annual tax deduction.
Example: Sarah has no realized capital gains for the year, but on December 15th she intentionally sells shares of a mutual fund to generate a $3,000 long-term realized loss. Sarah can now use that $3,000 loss to take a deduction against her ordinary income.
Tax Note: You do not need to itemize to take advantage of the $3,000 tax deduction for capital losses. You can elect to take the standard deduction when filing your taxes and still capture the $3,000 tax deduction for capital losses.
The $3,000 annual loss tax deduction can also be used to eat up carryforward losses. If we go back to our example with Joe who had the $30,000 realized long-term loss, if he does not have any future capital gains to offset them with the carryforward loss, he could continue to deduct $3,000 per year against his ordinary income over the next 10 years, until the loss has been fully deducted.
Mutual Fund Capital Gain Distribution
For investors that use mutual funds as an investment vehicle within a taxable investment account, certain mutual funds will issue a “capital gains distribution”, typically in November or December of each year, which then generates taxable income to the shareholder of that mutual fund, whether they sold any shares during the year.
When mutual funds issue capital gains distributions, it’s common that a majority of the capital gains distributions will be long-term capital gains. Similar to normal realized long-term capital gains, investors can loss harvest and generate realized losses to offset the long-term capital gains distribution from their mutual fund holdings in an effort to reduce their tax liability.
The Wash Sale Rule
When loss harvesting, investors have to be aware of the IRS “Wash Sale Rule”. The wash sale rule states that if you sell a security at a loss and the rebuy a substantially identical security within 30 days following the date of the sale, a realized loss cannot be captured by the taxpayer.
Example: Scott sells the Nike stock on December 1, 2024 which generates a $10,000 realize loss, but then Scott repurchases Nike stock on December 25, 2024. Since Scott repurchased Nike stock within 30 days of the sell day, he can no longer use the $10,000 realized loss generated by his sell transaction on December 1st due to the IRS 30 Day Wash Rule.
Also make note of the term “substantially identical” security. If you sell the Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF to realize a loss but then purchase the Fidelity S&P 500 Index ETF 15 days later, while they are two different investments with different ticker symbols, the IRS would most likely consider them substantially identical triggering the Wash Sale rule.
Real Estate & Business Loss Harvesting
While most of the examples today have been centered around stock investments, the lost harvesting strategy can be used across various asset classes. We have had clients that have sold their business, generating a large long-term capital gain, and then we have them going into their taxable brokerage account looking for investment holdings that have unrealized losses that we can realize to offset the taxable long-term gain from the sale of their business.
The same is true for real estate investments. If a client sells a property at a gain, they may be able to use either carryforward losses from previous tax years or intentionally realize losses in their investment accounts in the same tax year to offset the taxable gain from the sale of their investment property.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
The Huge NYS Tax Credit Available For Donations To The SUNY Impact Foundation
There is a little-known, very lucrative New York State Tax Credit that came into existence within the past few years for individuals who wish to make charitable donations to their SUNY college of choice through the SUNY Impact Foundation. The tax credit is so large that individuals who make a $10,000 donation to the SUNY Impact Foundation can receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of $8,500 whether they take the standard deduction or itemize on their tax return. This results in a windfall of cash to pre-selected athletic programs and academic programs by the donor at their SUNY college of choice, with very little true out-of-pocket cost to the donors themselves once the tax credit is factored in.
There is a little-known, very lucrative New York State Tax Credit that came into existence within the past few years for individuals who wish to make charitable donations to their SUNY college of choice through the SUNY Impact Foundation. The tax credit is so large, that individuals who make a $10,000 donation to the SUNY Impact Foundation can receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of $8,500 whether they take the standard deduction or itemize on their tax return. This results in a windfall of cash to pre-selected athletic programs and academic programs by the donor at their SUNY college of choice, with very little true out-of-pocket cost to the donors themselves once the tax credit is factored in.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
The Trump Tax Plan for 2025: Social Security, Tips, Overtime, SALT Cap, and more….
It seems as though the likely outcome of the 2024 presidential elections will be a Trump win, and potentially full control of the Senate and House by the Republicans to complete the “full sweep”. As I write this article at 6am the day after election day, it looks like Trump will be president, the Senate will be controlled by the Republicans, and the House is too close to call. If the Republicans complete the full sweep, there is a higher probability that the tax law changes that Trump proposed on his campaign trail will be passed by Congress and signed into law as early as 2025.
It looks as though the likely outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be a Trump win, and potentially full control of the Senate and House by the Republicans to complete the “full sweep”. As I write this article at 6am the day after election day, it looks like Trump will be president, the Senate will be controlled by the Republicans, and the House is too close to call. If the Republicans complete the full sweep, there is a higher probability that the tax law changes that Trump proposed on his campaign trail will be passed by Congress and signed into law as early as 2025. Here are the main changes that Trump has proposed to the current tax laws:
Making Social Security Completely Exempt from Taxation
Exempting tips from income taxes
Exempting overtime pay from taxation
A new itemized deduction for auto loan interest
Dropping the corporate tax rate from the current 21% down to 15%
Eliminating the $10,000 SALT Cap
Extension of the Tax Cut & Jobs Act beyond 2025
Even if the Democrats end up hanging on to the House by a narrow margin, there is still a chance that some of these tax law changes could be passed in 2025.
Social Security Exempt From Taxation
This one is big for retirees. Under current tax law, 85% of Social Security retirement benefits are typically taxed at the federal level. Trump has proposed that all Social Security Benefits would be exempt from taxation, which would put a lot more money into the pocket of many retirees. For example, if a retiree receives $40,000 in social security benefits each year and they are in the 22% Fed bracket, 85% of their $40,000 is currently taxed at the Federal level ($34,000), not paying tax on their social security benefit would put $7,480 per year back in their pocket.
Note: Most states do not tax social security benefits. This would be a tax change at the federal level.
Exempting Tips from Taxation
For anyone who works in a career that receives tips, such as waiters, bartenders, hair stylists, and the list goes on, under current tax law, you are supposed to claim those tips and pay taxes on those tips. Trump has proposed making tips exempt from taxation, which for industries that receive 50% or more of their income in tips could be a huge windfall. The Trump proposed legislation would create an above-the-line deduction for all tip income, including both cash and credit card tips.
Overtime Pay Exempt From Taxation
For hourly employees who work over 40 hours per week and receive overtime pay, Trump has proposed making all overtime wages exempt from taxation, which could be a huge windfall for hourly workers. The Tax Foundation estimates that 34 million Americans receive some form of overtime pay during the year.
Auto Loan Interest Deduction
Trump has also proposed a new itemized deduction for auto loan interest. However, since it’s likely that high standard deductions will be extended beyond 2026, if there is a full Republican sweep, only about 10% of Americans would elect to itemize on their tax return as opposed to taking the standard deduction. A taxpayer would need to itemize to take advantage of this new proposed tax deduction.
Reducing The Corporate Tax Rate from 21% to 15%
Trump proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce goods within the United States. For these big corporations, a 6% reduction in their federal tax rates could bring a lot more money to their bottom line.
Eliminating the $10,000 SALT Cap
This would be a huge win for states like New York and California, which have both high property taxes and state income taxes. When the Tax Cut and Jobs Act was passed, it was perhaps one of the largest deductions for individuals who resided in states that had both state income tax and property taxes referred to as the SALT Cap (State and Local Taxes). Trump has proposed extending the Tax Cut and Jobs Act but eliminating the $10,000 SALT cap.
For example, if you currently live in New York and have property taxes of $10,000 and you pay state income tax of $20,000, prior to the passing of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, you were able to itemize your tax deductions and take a $30,000 tax deduction at the federal level. When TCJA passed, it capped those deductions at $10,000, so most individuals defaulted into just taking the standard deduction and lost some of that tax benefit. Under these proposed tax law changes, taxpayers will once again be able to capture the full deduction for their state income taxes and property taxes making itemizing more appealing.
No Sunset For The Tax Cut and Jobs Act
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act was passed by Trump and the Republican Congress during his first term. That major taxation legislation was scheduled to expire on December 31, 2025, which would have automatically reverted everything back to the old tax brackets, standard deductions, loss of the QBI deduction, etc., prior to the passing of TCJA. If the Republicans gain control of the House, there is a very high probability that the tax laws associated with TCJA will be extended beyond 2025.
Summary of Proposed 2025 Tax Law Changes
There could be a tremendous number of tax law changes starting in 2025, depending on the ultimate outcome of the election results within the House of Representatives. If a full sweep takes place, a large number of the reforms that were covered in this article could be passed into the law in 2025. However, if there is a divided Congress, only a few changes may make it through Congress. We should know the outcome within the next 24 to 48 hours.
It’s also important to acknowledge that these are all proposed tax law changes. Before passing them into law, Congress could place income limitations on any number of these new tax benefits, and/or new tax law changes could be introduced. It should be a very interesting 2025 from a tax standpoint.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Can You Process A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) From an Inherited IRA?
Qualified Charitable Distributions are an advanced tax strategy used by individuals who are age 70½ or older who typically make annual contributions to their church, charity, or other not-for-profit organizations. QCDs allow individuals who have pre-tax IRAs to send money directly from their IRA to their charity of choice, and they avoid having to pay tax on those distributions. However, a client recently asked an excellent question:
“Can you process a qualified charitable distribution from an Inherited IRA? If yes, does that QCD also count toward the annual RMD requirement?”
Qualified Charitable Distributions are an advanced tax strategy used by individuals who are age 70½ or older who typically make annual contributions to their church, charity, or other not-for-profit organizations. QCDs allow individuals who have pre-tax IRAs to send money directly from their IRA to their charity of choice, and they avoid having to pay tax on those distributions. However, a client recently asked an excellent question:
“Can you process a qualified charitable distribution from an Inherited IRA? If yes, does that QCD also count toward the annual RMD requirement?”
QCD from an Inherited IRA
The short answer to both of those questions is “Yes”. As long as the owner of the Inherited IRA account is age 70½ or older, they would have the option to process a QCD from their inherited IRA, and that QCD amount would count towards the annual required minimum distribution (RMD) if one is required.
What is a QCD?
When you process distributions from a Traditional IRA account, in most cases, those distributions are taxed to the account owner as ordinary income. However, once an individual reaches the age of 70½, a new distribution option becomes available called a “QCD” or a qualified charitable distribution. This allows the owner of the IRA to issue a distribution directly to their church or charity of choice, and they do not have to pay tax on the distribution.
Backdoor Way To Recapture Tax Deduction for Charitable Contribution
Due to the changes in the tax laws, about 90% of the taxpayers in the U.S. elect to take the standard deduction when they file their taxes, as opposed to itemizing. Since charitable contributions are an itemized deduction, that means that 90% of taxpayers no longer receive a tax benefit for their charitable contributions throughout the year.
A backdoor way to recapture that tax benefit is by making a QCD from a Traditional IRA or Inherited Traditional IRA, because the taxpayer can now avoid paying income tax on a pre-tax retirement account by directing those distributions to a church or charity. So, in a way, they are recapturing the tax benefits associated with making a charitable contribution, and they do not have to itemize on their tax return to do it.
QCD Limitations
There are three main limitations associated with processing qualified charitable distributions:
The first rule that was already mentioned multiple times is that the individual processing the QCD must be 70½ or older. For individuals turning 70½ this year, a very important note, you cannot process the QCD until you have actually turned 70½ to the DAY. I have seen individuals make the mistake of processing a QCD in the year that they turn 70½ but before the exact day that they reached age 70½. In those cases, the distribution no longer qualifies as a QCD.
Example: Jen turned 70 in February 2024, and she wants to make a QCD from her Inherited IRA. Jen would have to wait until August 2024, when she officially reaches age 70½, to process the QCD. If she attempts to process the QCD before she turns 70½, the full amount of the IRA distribution will be taxable to Jen.
QCD $100,000 Annual Limit
Each taxpayer is limited to a total of $100,000 in QCDs in any given tax year, so the dollar limit each year is relatively high. That full $100,000 could be remitted to a single charity or it could be split up among any number of charities.
QCD’s Can Only Be Processed From IRAs
If you inherit a pre-tax 401(k) account, you would not be able to process a QCD directly from the 401(K) plan. 401(k) accounts are not eligible for QCDs. You would first have to rollover the balance in the 401(K) to an Inherited IRA, and then process the QCD from there.
QCDs Count Toward the RMD Requirement
If you have inherited a retirement account, you may or may not be subject to the new 10-year rule and/or required to take annual RMDs (required minimum distributions) for your inherited IRA each year. For purposes of this article, if you subject to the annual RMD requirement, these QCD count toward the annual RMD amount.
Example: Tom has an inherited IRA and he is subject to the new 10-year rule and is also required to distribute annual RMD’s from the IRA during the 10 year period. If the RMD amount of 2025 is $5,000, assuming that Tom has reached age 70½, he would be eligible to process an QCD for the full amount of the RMD, he will be deemed as satisfying the annual RMD requirement, and does not have to pay tax on the $5,000 distribution that was directed to charity.
This is also true for 10-year rule distributions. If someone gets to the end of the 10-year period, there is $60,000 remaining in the inherited IRA, and the account owner is age 70½ or older, they could process a QCD for all or a portion of that remaining balance and avoid having to pay tax on any amount that was directed to a charity or not-for-profit.
QCD Distributions Must Be Sent Directly To Church or Charity
One of the important rules with processing these QCDs is the owner of the Inherited IRA can never come into contact with the money. The distribution has to be sent directly from the IRA custodian to the church or charity.
For our clients, a common situation is sending money directly to their church as opposed to putting money in the offering plate each Sunday. If they estimate that they donate about $4,000 to their church throughout the year, in January, they request that we process a QCD from their inherited IRA to their church in the amount of $4,000 and that amount is a non-taxable distribution from their IRA.
When the distribution is requested, we have to ask the client how to make the check payable and the mailing address of the church, and then our custodian (Fidelity) processes the check directly from their IRA to the church.
No Special Tax Code on 1099-R for QCDs
Anytime you process a distribution from an inherited IRA, the custodian of the IRA will issue you a 1099-R tax form at the end of the year so you can report the distribution amount on your tax return. With QCD, there is not a special tax code indicating that it was a QCD. If you use an accountant to prepare your taxes, you must let them know about the QCD, so they do not report the distribution as taxable income to you.
Summary
For individuals who inherit Traditional IRAs and have charitable intent, processing Qualified Charitable Distributions each year can be an excellent way to recapture the tax deduction that is being lost for their charitable contributions while at the same time counting toward the annual RMD requirement for that tax year.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Should You Surrender Your Life Insurance Policies When You Retire?
Squarespace Excerpt: As individuals approach retirement, they often begin reviewing their annual expenses, looking for ways to trim unnecessary expenses so their retirement savings last as long as possible now that their paychecks are about to stop for their working years. A common question that comes up during these client meetings is “Should I get rid of my life insurance policy now that I will be retiring?”
As individuals approach retirement, they often begin reviewing their annual expenses, looking for ways to trim unnecessary expenses so their retirement savings last as long as possible now that their paychecks are about to stop for their working years. A common question that comes up during these client meetings is “Should I get rid of my life insurance policy now that I will be retiring?”
Very often, the answer is “Yes, you should surrender your life insurance policy”, because by the time individuals reach retirement, their mortgage is paid off, kids are through college and out of the house, they have no debt outside of maybe a car loan, and they have accumulated large sums in their retirement accounts. So, what is the need for life insurance?
However, for some individuals, the answer is “No, you should keep your life insurance policies in force,” and we will review several of those scenarios in this article as well.
Retirees That Should Surrender Their Life Insurance Policies
Since this is the more common scenario, we will start with the situations where it may make sense to surrender your life insurance policies when you retire.
Remember Why You Have Life Insurance In The First Place
Let’s start off with the most basic reason why individuals have life insurance to begin with. Life insurance is a financial safety net that protects you and your family against the risk if you unexpectedly pass away before you're able to accumulate enough assets to support you and your family for the rest of their lives, there is a big insurance policy that pays out to provide your family with the financial support that they need to sustain their standard of living.
Once you have paid off mortgages, the kids are out of the house, and you have accumulated enough wealth in investment accounts to support you, your spouse, and any dependents for the rest of their lives, there is very little need for life insurance.
For example, if we have a married couple, both age 67, who want to retire this year and they have accumulated $800,000 in their 401(K) accounts, we can show them via retirement projections that, based on their estimated expenses in retirement, the $800,000 in their 401(K) accounts in addition to their social security benefits is more than enough to sustain their expenses until age 95. So, why would they need to keep paying into their life insurance policies when they are essentially self-insured. If something happens to one of the spouses, there may be enough assets to provide support for the surviving spouse for the rest of their life. So again, instead of paying $3,000 per year for a life insurance policy that they no longer need, why not surrender the policy, and spend the money on more travel, gifts for the kids, or just maintain a larger retirement nest egg to better hedge against inflation over time?
It's simple. If there is no longer a financial need for life insurance protection, why are you continuing to pay for financial protection that you don’t need? There are a lot of retirees that fall into this category.
Individuals That Should KEEP Their Life Insurance Policies in Retirement
So, who are the individuals who should keep their life insurance policies after they retire? They fall into a few categories.
#1: Still Have A Mortgage or Debt
If a married couple is about to retire and they still have a mortgage or debt, it may make sense to continue to sustain their life insurance policies until the mortgage and/or debt have been satisfied, because if something happens to one of the spouses and they lose one of the social security benefits or part-time retirement income, it could put the surviving spouse in a difficult financial situation without a life insurance policy to pay off the mortgage.
#2: Single Life Pension Election
If an individual has a pension, when they retire, they have to elect a survivor benefit for their pension. If they elect a single life with no survivor benefit and that pension is a large portion of the household income and that spouse passes away, that pension would just stop, so a life insurance policy may be needed to protect against that pension spouse passing away unexpectedly.
#3: Estate Tax Liability
Uber wealthy individuals who pass away with over $13 Million in assets may have to pay estate tax at the federal level. Knowing they are going to have an estate tax liability, oftentimes these individuals will purchase a whole life insurance policy and place it in an ILIT (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust) to remove it from their estate, but the policy will pay the estate tax liability on behalf of the beneficiaries of the estate.
#4: Tax-Free Inheritance
Some individuals will buy a whole life insurance policy so they have an inheritance asset earmarked for their children or heirs. The plan is to maintain that policy forever, and after the second spouse passes, the kids receive their inheritance in the form of a tax-free life insurance payout. This one can be a wishy-washy reason to maintain an insurance policy in retirement, because you have to pay into the insurance policy for a long time, and if you run an apple-to-apple comparison of accumulating the inheritance in a life insurance policy versus accumulating all of the life insurance premium dollars in another type of account, like a brokerage account, sometimes the latter is the more advantageous way to go.
#5: Illiquid Asset Within the Estate
An individual may have ownership in a privately held business or investment real estate which, if they were to pass away, the estate may have expenses that need to be paid. Or, if a business owner has two kids, and one child inherits the business, they may want a life insurance policy to be the inheritance asset for the child not receiving ownership in the family business. In these illiquid estate situations, the individual may maintain a life insurance policy to provide liquidity to the estate for any number of reasons.
#6: Poor Health Status
The final reason to potentially keep your life insurance in retirement is for individuals who are in poor health. Sometimes an individual is forced into retirement due to a health issue. Until that health issue is resolved, it probably makes sense to keep the life insurance policy in force. Even though they may no longer “need” that insurance policy to support a spouse or dependents, it may be a prudent investment decision to keep that policy in force if the individual has a shortened life expectancy and the policy may pay out within the next 10 years.
While “keeping” the life insurance policy in retirement is less commonly the optimal solution, there are situations like the ones listed above, where keeping the policy makes sense.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
Should You Lease or Buy A Car: Interview with a CFP® and Owner of a Car Dealership
When clients are looking to purchase a new car one of the most common questions that we receive is “Should I Buy or Lease?” To get the answer, we interviewed a Certified Financial Planner and the owner of Rensselaer Honda to educate our audience on the pros and cons of buying vs leasing.
When clients are looking to purchase a new car one of the most common questions that we receive is “Should I Buy or Lease?” To get the answer, we interviewed a Certified Financial Planner and the owner of Rensselaer Honda to educate our audience on the pros and cons of buying vs leasing.
About Michael……...
Hi, I’m Michael Ruger. I’m the managing partner of Greenbush Financial Group and the creator of the nationally recognized Money Smart Board blog . I created the blog because there are a lot of events in life that require important financial decisions. The goal is to help our readers avoid big financial missteps, discover financial solutions that they were not aware of, and to optimize their financial future.
