Getting the Most from Your Retirement Savings

Check these resources for more information about the tips covered in the workshop.

Early Distribution Penalty Tax

• Topic 558 – Additional Tax on Early Distributions from Retirement Plans Other Than IRAs https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558.html
• Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-tax-on-early-distributions

Required Minimum Distributions

• IRS Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590b.pdf

Waiver of penalty for failure to take your Required Minimum Distribution

• Code of Federal Regulations, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/54.4974-2)
• How to request a waiver – see Natalie Choate’s article at http://www.morningstar.com/advisor/t/110091243/how-to-request-a-waiver-of-the-rmd-50-penalty.htm

Indirect rollovers: If you miss the 60-day deadline

• Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2016-37, Waiver of 60-Day Rollover Requirement,  https://www.irs.gov/irb/2016-37_IRB/ar09.html
• Edd Slott And Company, LLC, 10 Things You Should Know about the New Fix for Late IRA Rollovers,  https://www.irahelp.com/slottreport/10-things-you-should-know-about-new-fix-late-ira-rollovers?

Qualified Charitable Distributions

• Nerd’s Eye Blog by Michael Kitces, Rules And Requirements For Doing A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) From An IRA, https://www.kitces.com/blog/qualified-charitable-distribution-qcd-from-ira-to-satisfy-rmd-rules-and-requirements/

Why take voluntary distributions from retirement accounts & delay Social Security

• Lance Ritchlin, Why 401k And Social Security Coordination Is Critically Important, 401kspecialist.com, http://bit.ly/Why401k (This article is targeted at financial advisers, but you may still find some of the information helpful.)
• James I. Mahaney and Peter C. Carlson, Rethinking Social Security Claiming in a 401(k) World, Pension Research Council Working Paper, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Available at http://bit.ly/RethinkSocSec. (This paper was written before the recent changes in Social Security claiming strategies and therefore contains some dated information. However, it is still the most thorough discussion on this topic that I am aware of.)

Asset Location

• Karen Chan, University of Illinois Extension Plan Well – Retire Well Blog
  • Asset Location, http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/eb141/entry_4132/
  • A Real Live Example of Rebalancing + Asset Location, http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/eb141/entry_4145/

Online tools for maximizing retirement income

• If you try out one or both of these online tools, I would be very interested in hearing about your experience.
• Income Stragegy.com
  • https://incomestrategy.com/ was developed by William Meyer and Dr. William Reichenstein, who were previously well-known for their Social Security strategy software, https://www.socialsecuritysolutions.com/. On the “how it works” tab of Income Strategy, you can see and learn more about the various components of your retirement strategy that the tool can help with. You choose the level of information/service you want: either $20 or $40 per month, or $1500 and up per year for personal advice services. (The costs I mentioned during the webinar were incorrect – I apologize). I have not personally tried this software, but I did test-drive their Social Security tool. It has a reputation for being very thorough, so I expect this program would be, too.
• MaxFi Planner
  • https://maxifiplanner.com/ was created by Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff, a highly regarded professor of economics. I am not sure that MaxFi is as flexible (or that its analysis is as extensive) as Income Strategy. It also comes from a different perspective – it focuses on how to  level out and maximize your spending ability over your retirement years. I found Mr. Kotlikoff’s Social Security strategy tool (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/) easier to use and less expensive than the one from Meyer and Reichenstein. Based on that, I have signed up for MaxFi Planner, but I haven’t gotten very far with it due to distractions like two knee replacements this year. There are two price levels – $109 and $149 per year, with lower annual rates for each if you renew for additional years.