Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

US equity markets took a step back last week in what turned out to be a very busy week.  Increased yields on the long end of the curve prompted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to double buybacks of 10- to 30-year US Treasuries in an effort to temper the rise in...

Roth Distribution Rules: IRAs vs. Plans

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst The foundational premise of a Roth IRA and a Roth 401(k) is the same – after-tax dollars go into the Roth account (either via contribution or conversion), and eligible earnings are tax-free. Pretty easy. But when it comes to...

IRS Issues Guidance on Trump Account Employer Contributions

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst Recent IRS guidance confirms that any employer that wishes to make employer contributions to Trump accounts must comply with several administrative requirements. Especially for small employers, these requirements are likely to be...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

The S&P 500 forged a new all-time high as investors recalibrated interest-rate-hike expectations after an in-line print of the Consumer Price Index and a cooler-than-expected print of the Producer Price Index.  The probability of a rate hike in September fell to...

The Look-Through Rules for Trusts

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education The SECURE Act, the SECURE 2.0 Act, and subsequent regulations have brought us a complex set of rules for IRA beneficiaries, including trusts. Only individuals who are named on the IRA beneficiary form (or named...

The Roth Conversion Transaction Custodians Dislike

By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF® IRA Analyst Anyone with a traditional IRA can do a Roth conversion. As long as the funds are eligible to be rolled over, they can be converted. With a Roth conversion, traditional IRA funds are moved into a Roth IRA. This movement of funds is...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

Giddy up!  US equity markets ripped higher in the first week of August as 2nd quarter earnings continued to impress.  According to FactSet, 88% of the S&P 500 have reported earnings, of which 86% have beaten Earnings Per Share estimates, while Earnings Per Share...

Creditor Protection for Your Retirement Accounts

By Ian Berger, JD IRA Analyst How well are your retirement plan account funds protected from creditors? The answer depends on which kind of creditors you are worried about. There are two types of creditors that might be coming after your retirement savings. The first...

How Your Spouse Can Impact Your Traditional IRA Deduction

By Sarah Brenner, JD Director of Retirement Education If you have compensation (or “earned income”), you can always contribute to a traditional IRA, but your traditional IRA contribution may not always be deductible. (Roth IRA contributions are never deductible.) One...
Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary

It was an extremely busy week on Wall Street, with investors having to assess increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East alongside a deluge of corporate 2nd-quarter earnings results, several central bank monetary policy decisions, and a full economic...