Save For Retirement With An Individual Retirement Account
Michael Warner
Erybody wants their economic future to be safe and secure. We
are bound to stop earning some day. Once that happens, we can
either become dependent on our children or chose to live on
whatever we had saved for this post-retirement phase of life. We
can maximize our savings by timely investing them in good
retirement plans. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) is one
such government authored retirement plan which scores high on
tax and retirement benefits.
There are two main types of individual retirement accounts:
traditional IRA account and the Roth IRA. There are some
restrictions over who can and who cannot open these accounts.
Any earning individual can open the traditional IRA account
whereas only those individuals can open a Roth IRA whose annual
income falls below the notified limit. The two plans are
discussed below:
Traditional IRA: The traditional IRA allows us to save
and invest money while deferring taxes. This should be one's
option if an individual expects to be in a lower tax bracket at
the time of retirement. At the time of making contributions, the
contributions to a traditional IRA are tax free.
Roth IRA: Roth IRA, like traditional IRA, is a retirement
plan. It is different from traditional IRA as the Roth
contributions are not tax free at the time of contribution. But
the withdrawals become tax free with the time and become
completely tax free at the time of maturity. This helps a
candidate to begin contributing at a much younger age in order
to get the best out of Roth IRA account without the burden of
the additional tax to be paid.
There are certain rules in place when it to comes to withdrawal
of money for both the types of accounts. Some rules are listed
below:
* Any one below the age of 59 1/2 years can access his tax
deferred IRA distributions without worrying about the 10%
penalty.
* Any one between the age group of 59 1/2 years to 70 1/2 years
can withdraw his money completely or a fraction of it without
paying the 10 % penalty. However his withdrawal will be counted
as his/her annual income and will be taxed accordingly.
* Distributions need to start at the age of 70 1/2 years in a
traditional IRA. One, who turns 70 1/2 years of age and has a
beneficiary, will receive maximum annual payments based on the
joint life expectancy. If there is no beneficiary then the
payments will be based on single life expectancy.
These above rules are some of the rules that are followed at the
time of withdrawal. They appear complicated and therefore, there
is a need for a financial advisor to guide one through. They can
explain theses rules in a simplified manner to the IRA
individuals and thus help them with these.
About the author:
Michael Warner owns and operates
http://www.iracontributionexpert.com href="http://www.iracontributionexpert.com">IRA Contribution
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