Roth conversion planning is not just about deciding whether to convert. It is about finding the right timing, annual conversion amounts, and overall objective.

Roth conversions and Qualified Charitable Distributions can help manage taxable income and reduce future RMD obligations.

If charitable giving is part of your financial plan, upcoming changes to federal tax rules could affect how much of your generosity is deductible.

Starting in 2025, most non-spouse beneficiaries must take annual withdrawals from inherited IRAs. These changes follow the final regulations released in July 2024, which mandate that most non-spouse beneficiaries deplete their inherited IRAs within 10 years.

Most people are subject to federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits, but it will depend on your total income. The tax calculation can be complex, but WealthTrace does this for you.

The impact of one spouse passing away on the tax rate for the remaining spouse is often overlooked in retirement planning and your tax rate can increase substantially if this happens. We discuss ways to prepare for this.

Gifting stocks to your children can help give them a good foundation for their financial future. When deciding which stock to gift, tax professionals typically advise to gift the stock with the highest gain.

In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was enacted by Congress, bringing about tax reductions for numerous individuals and businesses. However, without additional legislative changes, these tax cuts are scheduled to come to an end by the close of 2025.

The best way to optimize your Roth conversions is to find the optimal tax bracket to “fill up”. This can save you thousands of dollars over time.

For those of you who are currently receiving Medicare Part B or will be within the next two years, it's crucial to understand that converting an amount that results in income just $1 over the threshold could lead to thousands of dollars in additional Medicare Part B costs.

When you retire, your income taxes are likely to decrease, but it's important to minimize the taxes you do have to pay.

There is still almost no way to avoid taxes in retirement. Early retirement tax planning can certainly help, but be prepared to pay at least some taxes in retirement

By withdrawing from your investments in a planned way, you can minimize taxes on your Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

Some investors convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA without understanding whether or not they really should. Usually the best time to convert to a Roth IRA is after retiring but before Social Security and Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) begin.

It used to be--and still is, in the case where the original owner of the IRA died before the end of 2019--that owners of traditional IRAs inherited from someone other than the original owner's spouse only had to take annual required minimum distributions. Otherwise, an IRA could be passed on, theoretically, for generations.

A backdoor Roth IRA is completely legal and most online brokers have systems set up to handle it. There is also no income restriction on this strategy. Here is how it works: Basically, you contribute money to a traditional IRA and then immediately convert it to a Roth IRA. The money in the Roth now gets to grow tax-free and when you withdraw the money in retirement, you won’t pay any taxes at all on the withdrawal.

At the end of 2025, federal income tax rates are scheduled to go back to where they were before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. Many expect Congress to extend the tax cuts, at least for lower brackets, but nothing is guaranteed. If tax rates are set to increase, Roth IRA conversions today would make more sense for many people.

Spend enough time on personal finance web sites and you can start to feel like tax-avoidance strategies are THE most important factor in coming up with a successful financial plan. (In fact, they're not--saving as much money as possible in low-cost index funds is.) We don't want to pile on, but we do have another piece to consider: Social Security taxation, and what can be done to minimize it.

The concept of choosing where to put your money is not new. But with today’s do-it-yourself technology tools, it has become easier to calculate just how much you can save by implementing a better asset location strategy.

The recent tax law and changes to the tax code was pretty dramatic in terms of how it impacts most taxpayers. Not only did federal tax rates go down across the board, but the law regarding tax deductions changed a lot as well. Many people who used to itemize the taxes now will simply use the standard deduction of $12,000 per person, which is double what it used to be.