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July 19, 2010 |
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Greetings!
Client education is a top priority at Alliant Wealth Advisors. Our latest effort is a webinar titled "The Ins and Outs of ROTH IRA Conversion". See announcement below.
As always, we enjoy hearing from you. If you find our newsletter helpful, please share with your family and friends by clicking on the "Forward Email" at the bottom of this newsletter. To provide feedback, simply email us. Stay cool!
Best,
John A. Frisch, CPA/PFS, CFP
President & Founder |
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Webinar: Ins and Outs of ROTH IRA Conversion |
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Alliant Wealth Advisors is pleased to present a webinar titled "The Ins and Outs of ROTH IRA Conversion". Clients of Alliant Wealth Advisors are highly encouraged to attend this webinar but all recipients of this newsletter are welcome. If you would like to attend but are not available during either of our two scheduled times please contact our office.
Description:
Prior to 2010, converting a traditional IRA to a ROTH IRA was prohibited by tax law if your income was greater than $100,000. This income limitation has been removed effective January 1, 2010. Now many additional tax payers can take advantage of a ROTH IRA. But the decision to convert into a ROTH is driven by many considerations including your age, present and future income tax brackets, need to make IRA withdrawals, and ability to pay tax generated by a conversion. To further complicate this decision Congress added a tax break to a ROTH conversion that is only available for conversions made prior to December 31 of this year.
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2010 RMDs are Baaaack |
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Required minimum distributions, often referred to as RMDs, are amounts the federal government requires you to withdraw annually from traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans after you reach age 70½ (or, in some cases, after you retire). RMDs are also required if you inherit an IRA (traditional or Roth) or employer plan account. You can always withdraw more than the minimum amount from your IRA or plan in any year, but if you withdraw less than the required minimum, you'll be subject to a federal penalty tax equal to 50% of the shortfall.
In response to deteriorating economic conditions in 2008, Congress (as part of the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, or "WRERA") waived RMDs from IRAs and defined contribution employer plans for the 2009 calendar year. This allowed individuals to avoid having to deplete retirement plan assets while the value of those assets was suddenly depressed. But RMDs are back for 2010. Here's how the rules apply.
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Brokers Feel Financial Overhaul Hit |
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This article originally appeared on Financial Advisor magazine's website on June 18, 2010. Please note that Alliant Wealth Advisors' employees are not brokers.
(Dow Jones) A lot of attention has been given to the impact new financial rules might have on banks, but at least one analyst argues that the hit to profits at the large brokerage firms is being wrongly overlooked.
Rules under discussion by lawmakers and federal agencies could push brokers into selling less profitable, passive investment products, abolish mandatory arbitration clauses and wipe out established fees paid to brokers by mutual funds. The rule changes under discussion may even lead to brokers being held liable for their recommendations.
Vivek Agrawal, partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., believes that even a "moderately" strict set of new rules could significantly cut profit-per-broker at the largest firms. This pressure would likely push the firms into new ways of doing business, he added.
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2010 Mid Year Tax Considerations |
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Numerous changes and uncertainties surround us for this 2010 tax year. With tax brackets scheduled to raise in 2011, it is particularly important for you to take a moment to listen to this presentation to give you an oversight on how these changes could affect your tax situation.
The presentation briefly reviews:
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Keeping Your Credit Score Healthy |
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It doesn't take much these days to damage a credit score. Before the recession, late payments and blasting through credit limits would take its toll. But in the past year, Fair Isaac, the company that developed the algorithm that is the leading determinant of our scores, made an important change in its formula.
It's now putting much more emphasis on the size of your balances and how close they are to your total credit limit. It’s a behavior trigger that creditors see as a bigger worry than ever. So the best thing you can do for your credit score is to get your balances down to under half of your credit limit.
Even better, pay them off entirely and use them only when you know you can pay them off at the end of the month. Inactive accounts will ding your credit score, but quick payments can only help.
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| About Us: Located in Woodbridge, VA, Alliant Wealth Advisors (formerly Millennium Capital Management Corp) was founded to help a select group of families achieve all that is important to them financially. To achieve our mission we use a consultative wealth management process, which includes both investment consulting and advanced planning. Our approach assumes that every client is unique; every client has varying needs and objectives; and no two clients share the same risk tolerances, time horizons and dreams. In addition to providing our expertise we work with clients' existing advisors and, where there is a gap to fill, we use our own outside experts in the fields of tax, legal and high-end Insurance. |
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