"[T]he Department issues this Circular Letter with the purpose of establishing the procedure to be followed by an individual who is not a resident of Puerto Rico to demonstrate that the distributions of his retirement plan qualified under the Federal Code and whose trust was created in a US state are not subject to tax in Puerto Rico."

"Participants are retiring at later ages. Between 2000 and 2018, average retirement ages rose from 64.6 to 65.9 for women and from 65.5 to 67.5 for men. Many new retirees delay drawing down assets, with only 40% starting income within four years of retirement.... The proportion of retirees taking a life annuity as first income fell from 61% in 2000 to 18% in 2018. By comparison, the fraction of retirees taking an RMD as first income rose from 10% to 52%."

"Half of participants (50%) are concerned about being able to manage expenses and lifestyle choices in retirement and 48% are concerned about outliving their income. Because of these concerns, eight in 10 plan sponsors (81%) believe their employees want guaranteed lifetime income investment options in their employer-sponsored retirement plan."

"The Secure Act of 2019 created a confusing new array of different 'required minimum distribution rules' for 'plain old designated beneficiaries' and five classes of 'eligible designated beneficiaries.' Meanwhile, the IRS' complicated 'minimum distribution trust rules' are still with us, even though the rewards for successfully navigating the same are diminished.... [The] system described here is designed to cut through that confusion and get you quickly to the estate planning options for each type of beneficiary and their minimum distribution consequences."

"Under the net unrealized appreciation rules, employees can roll over the portion of their 401(k) invested in company stock to a brokerage account and pay tax at more favorable long-term capital gains tax rates (rather than higher ordinary income rates) when the shares are sold. It doesn't always make sense to use NUA -- or keep employer stock in your retirement plan -- so carefully weigh the pros and cons."

"Are you entering retirement, but want to delay taking the full required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your retirement portfolio? Perhaps use that money to help secure the possibility of a long retirement instead? Meet the QLAC."

"Now that you've put together your retirement nest egg, you want to make sure that you're not overpaying Uncle Sam. To help you evaluate your current tax knowledge, here are 12 questions retirees often get wrong about taxes in retirement."

"[M]ost people aren't tapping their retirement accounts before their required withdrawals, and even then, they're only withdrawing the minimum. About 80% of the retirees studied didn't withdraw money from accounts before their required minimum distributions, and about 84% of those who reached RMD age took only the minimum amounts."

"De-risking is commonplace: 75% of retirees reduce their equity exposure after they roll over their assets from a 401(k) to an IRA. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) appear to be the dominant withdrawal 'guidance.' The vast majority of retirees -- particularly those with less observable wealth -- do not take distributions before RMD age, and those older than RMD age choose to take only the RMD amount. Income and spending in retirement are highly correlated. As income increases with the start of Social Security and RMDs, spending increases."

"[1] Is there an exception to the tax for distributions in substantially equal periodic payments? ... [2] Is there guidance on this exception? ... [3] How are interest rates determined? ... [4] How is life expectancy determined? ... [5] How is the account balance determined? ... [6] How are payments determined under the three methods? ... [7] Can I change from one method to another in calculating substantially equal periodic payments? ... [8] What is the effect of an account being completely depleted? ... [9] Are these the only acceptable ways of determining substantially equal periodic payments? ... [10] Can I take my substantially equal periodic payments on a monthly basis? ... [11] When do I fulfill my obligation to take substantially equal periodic payments?"

"The proposal follows previous disaster distribution guidance and provides for a waiver of the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty tax on distributions of up to $100,000 per disaster made to those who have a primary residence in the affected area and have sustained an economic loss."

"Here are four obstacles you don't want to find out about after you have already taken the distribution from the retirement account (and at number five, a way to sidestep two of them): [1] Is the executor permitted to make the distribution at this time? ... [2] Pecuniary bequests.... [3] Separate share rule.... [4] No DNI deduction for charity.... [5] Transfer the plan itself, not the distribution."

"The Mega Backdoor Roth comes into play in one of two ways. The individual either takes an in-service withdrawal and rolls it to a Roth IRA or utilizes an in-plan Roth rollover feature to convert to Roth within the plan. This may sound like a complicated cool investment strategy, but it RARELY works."

"It is simply imprudent to plan to live only as long as your life expectancy -- 50% of individuals will live longer than their life expectancy.... COVID-19 has had a negative impact on life expectancies in the U.S. and elsewhere. It is not clear what the long-term mortality implications will be, however, particularly for those who have been vaccinated against the virus."

21 pages. "Although the Section 2202 Compliance Plan assessed the effect on examination activities and outlined the steps necessary to encourage and enforce taxpayer compliance, it could be improved.... TIGTA recommended that the Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, ensure that management has sufficient information available to assess compliance with Section 2202 of the CARES Act and consider creating a Lead Sheet to assist examiners when reviewing cases for potential noncompliance. In their response, IRS management disagreed with both recommendations."

"Although the snapshot doesn't offer any new guidance, IRS has provided a useful, streamlined summary of the hardship distribution requirements. Snapshots also serve as training materials for IRS auditors and typically highlight compliance issues IRS will review during an audit."

"[The question presented was] whether retirement benefits transferred directly into a rollover account could be offset against the plaintiff's ERISA-governed disability insurance benefits. Although the rollover was not considered receipt of the funds for tax purposes, the court upheld the insurer's finding that the funds [the participant] received reduced her disability payments." [DeBold v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, No. 20-11802 (D. Mass. Jun. 28, 2021)]

"[It] goes without saying that you should always take your RMDs on time. That said, it's a mistake to be dogmatic about withdrawal sequencing -- burning through taxable accounts first, then depleting traditional IRA/401(k) assets before finally moving on to your Roth accounts.... [Y]our tax picture will change from year to year based on your expenses, your available deductions, your investments' performance, and your RMDs, among other factors."

"In addition to providing economic benefits, shifting assets from investments to guaranteed lifetime income can also provide psychological benefits that give households a 'license to spend' their assets. So, you can worry less, spend more and achieve your financial goals by shifting some of your assets from investments to guaranteed lifetime income."

"Even though there is retirement software telling you that if you play the retirement tax game just right you can spend 10% more money per year, you are likely going to spend about what you did pre-retirement.... Tax law regarding brackets, inheritance rules, RMDs, capital gains treatment, step-up in cost basis, etc. will change many times during a 25-year retirement. The assumptions made for your withdrawal plan may be moot in 18 months. It's better to be flexible than try to be 'perfect.' "

"The Recommended Financial Planning Process is a dynamic process and automatically adjusts annual spending budgets resulting from favorable or unfavorable experience.... [B]udgets can be smoothed from year to year to avoid significant fluctuations.... Spending and investment strategies developed using Systematic Withdrawal Plans (SWPs) or Monte Carlo modeling can be static or dynamic strategies and can involve significant adjustments to work properly."

"The COVID Relief Act passed by Congress and signed by the President on December 27 extended the unlimited charitable contribution for cash gifts to most public charities through the end of 2021. This creates an important once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move substantial amounts from retirement plans to charity beyond the $100,000 qualified charitable rollover already allowed to IRA owners without adverse income tax consequences."

"This Snapshot examines the criteria for current hardship distributions. Different restrictions applied to hardship distributions made before 2020 (the mandatory effective date of the new rules under Reg. Section 1.401(k)-1(d)(3)), although employers could apply all or some of the new rules earlier)." [Updated Jun. 23, 2021. Prior version addressed provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.]

"The decision ... settled an open question in Colorado regarding whether ERISA preempts 'post-distribution' lawsuits under Colorado's divorce-revocation statute. Specifically, the court held that ERISA preempts lawsuits against a former spouse to recover plan benefits that were distributed to the former spouse as the named beneficiary." [Ragan v. Ragan, No. 20CA0038 (Col. Ct. App. May 27, 2021)]

"Current conditions reinforce what has been growing apparent for the past several decades: Rather than chasing ever-shrinking income sources -- and risk under-diversifying and courting extra volatility in the process -- retirees should focus on generating cash flow in retirement instead.... This grouping includes Social Security ... income from working ... income from passive non-portfolio sources such as property rentals or royalties ... [and] cash values on life insurance as well as reverse mortgages."