Investments

The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA) will take effect January 1, 2010, and with it comes changes that could affect how you deal with any IRAs you may have.

As you likely know, there are two types of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), Traditional and Roth. Here’s a short breakdown of each:

The oldest Baby Boomer on record, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, turned 62 at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2008, and promptly applied for Social Security. Nearly 80 million people will follow her lead over the next 20 years. But while you can file for Social Security at age 62, does that mean you should?

The timetable for receiving full Social Security benefits has changed to accommodate changing times and funding. When you were born dictates when you’re able to receive full benefits.

The last time you were at your parents’ home, you discovered unpaid bills. They had forgotten to pay their gas bill for the past two months. You called the gas company and explained the situation, and then wrote out a check for the amount due, so everything turned out all right. But what if you hadn’t noticed the unpaid bills, and it was the middle of winter? Your parents’ heating could have been shut off.

Ahhhhh. Every once in a while you catch yourself drifting off into thoughts of retirement. No alarm clocks, a secluded beach and nothing but time. Then your phone rings and it’s back to work. Not that you don’t enjoy your career; it’s helping you save for the day on that secluded beach. And your retirement saving is going pretty well. So is your career. You just accepted a position at a new company that’s a good step up the corporate ladder. Now, after participating in your old employer’s retirement savings plan for a number of years, you have to make a decision regarding what happens to your retirement savings as you move on to a new job. You have several options:

Uncle Sam just sent you a big, fat tax refund. Woo-hoo! It’s time to celebrate! Maybe a new home theatre is in your future. Or a tropical vacation. Not so fast. If you usually receive a big, fat tax refund, it simply means Uncle Sam is enjoying a big, fat, interest-free loan, courtesy of the Bank of You.