Retirement Income Predictions from Your 401(k)

Many 401(k) plan sponsors and participants seem to forget or overlook that 401(k) plans were intended to get people to retirement but not necessarily through retirement. Consequently, most of the focus has been on accumulation – the size of the account – with too little attention paid to the retirement income that a future retiree can expect to receive from that account. Fortunately, this may be starting to change. Read more

Retirement Plan Contribution Limits for 2010

It’s time to adjust our retirement plan contributions for 2010. These plans include 401(k) plans, individual and spousal IRAs, and our Health Savings Account, which we use for retirement savings. Read more

Do Not Cash Out Your 401(k) Account

This message is for baby boomers who have not retired and in particular for those who have not reached 59  1/2 years of age.

Stop cashing out those 401(k) accounts! Read more

Deadline Extended for Returning Required Mininum Distributions

Most retirees know by now that in the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, Congress waived required minimum distributions in 2009 from IRAs, 401(k) accounts, and certain other retirement plans. The intended benefit was to prevent retirees from being forced to sell invested assets during a severe market decline. Read more

Retirement Plan Hardship Withdrawals

One of the worst financial decisions a baby boomer can make is to raid a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA or 401(k) to pay for non-retirement expenses. I like to call these early withdrawals “retirement plan leaks” although sometimes they are more like floods! Read more

Shielding Retirement Assets from Creditors

Our retirement assets are down but should not be forgotten. Depleted or not, there are plenty of folks out there who would like to have them. That includes creditors. So what kind of protection is available for retirement accounts from the claims of creditors? Read more

Update Beneficiary Designations in Retirement Plan Documents

Many members of the baby boomer generation are experiencing significant and perhaps abrupt transitions in their family status.  Their children have left home to lead independent lives.  Spouses have retired or perhaps even moved on to become ex-spouses.  Changes in boomer families can create a need for changes in your retirement plan documents.  
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How to Find Ratings and Information for Your 401(k) Plan

I came across a new online resource this week for finding information and ratings about employer 401(k) plans.  The site is BrightScope.  Apparently, the publisher of BrightScope has accessed company 401k records from the Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read more

My Two Step Plan for Guaranteed 50% Investment Returns

No, my last name is not Madoff and this is not a Ponzi scheme or infomercial.  Mr. GoTo just wants to point out – in very simple terms – that for many baby boomers there are still some options out there for getting a great return on money invested for retirement.  Here is my “two step” plan (not to be confused with those goofy “three step plan” commercials that are all over the airways): Read more

IRA, 401(k), and HSA Contribution and Funding Limits for 2009

Now is the time for baby boomers to consider and finalize plans for funding their retirement plans for 2009.  I have thought about a variety of issues related to these funding decisions.

First, analyze your options if your employer has stopped matching 401(k) contributions. Read more

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