Weber Group of Raymond James

 Passed in December 2022, the SECURE Act 2.0 includes : RETIREMENT SAVING RULE CHANGESHigher catch-up contribution allowancesFor those age 60-63, the catch-up contribution limit will increase to the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the regular catch-up amount for 401(k) and similar type plans. The higher allowance is effective starting in 2025.Cost of living adjustments to IRA catch-up contributionsIndividuals age 50+ can currently contribute an additional $1,000 to either a traditional or Roth IRA. Beginning in 2024, catch-up contributions will be indexed for inflation.REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTION (RMD) CHANGESRMD age increased to 73, but individuals can still do Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) at 70 . Beginning in 2023, a one-time QCD of up to $50,000 can be directed towards a split-interest entity such as a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT), Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) or Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA).TRANSFER OF EXCESS 529 FUNDS TO A ROTH IRAEffective in 2024, a beneficiarys unused 529 funds may be transferred to a Roth IRA in the name of the beneficiary, subject to several rules: The lifetime amount that can be transferred is $35,000 and is subject to the annual contribution limits. The 529 plan must be established for at least 15 years.ROTH RULE CHANGESRoth employer plan distributionsEffective 2024, individuals will no longer be required to take distributions from Roth accounts from employer plans.Roth-style version of SEP and SIMPLE IRA accountsEffective in the 2023 tax year, you can now create SIMPLE Roth IRA and SEP Roth IRA accounts.CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS REQUIRED TO BE ROTH FOR HIGH WAGE EARNERSCatch-up contributions for high income earners must be made in Roth accounts starting in 2024. The new rule applies to catch-up contributions for 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457 (b) plans.  Editors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber. Erin is a Financial Advisor with the Weber Group of Raymond James. She may be reached at 878.208.1285 or Erin.Weber@RaymondJames.com. Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC.

The last two years have been a rough ride. As a reminder for 2022, if you havent taken the time to sit down and organize your familys finances, there is no better time than now to develop new habits and get your year off to a running start. These are the necessary steps to take.Find a Financial Planner. A financial planner will help walk through the whole process. It is important to work with a financial planner who works with people similar to you. Going on the internet and searching names is probably not the most effective way because you never know what you are going to get. Asking for referrals from friends or family is a great way to go. You know the financial planner has done a good job for them, which automatically creates trust and credibility. Remember, there are many options. Speak to a few people and see who would be a good fit for you and your family.Meet With a Financial Planner. The first step is establishing your financial goals. The financial planner will ask: What are the financial goals that you want to achieve? What are your dreams? Without setting goals, it makes it impossible to achieve them. A goal a client may have is, I want to send my children to school. So, right away I need to know what that means. Does it mean youre paying for all their tuition, or just part of it? A client may also say they want to save to purchase a home and need 20% down. Well, what type of home are you looking for, and in what price range? A financial planner will probe and dig deeper to get those answers.How Do We Get There? Your goals must be written down. When you begin to work towards these goals, budgeting becomes a vital part of this process. As a family, its about sitting down and looking at your monthly cash flows. This is a basic practice that every family and household must to be doing. You need to know what your budget is, to ensure you are not living outside of your means. Which means, you have enough money coming in to pay for the expenses going out. It doesnt matter if you are a billionaire or if youre making $20,000 a year on a side job, if you are spending more money than youre bringing in, you are going to find yourself in debt.Budgeting is Easier Than You Think. People tend to overcomplicate budgeting. Remember, budgeting is not one-and-done, it needs to be done on a regular ongoing basis. How much you spend on food or utilities varies from month to month, so you want to figure out on average how much you are spending. Once you start the process and go year-over-year, you really understand your spending. The same average holds true for how much money you are bringing in, because that might change from month to month depending on your job or career.Realize Your Debt. When working through budgeting, you will realize your debt. Now, you can work toward paying off your debt, as well as saving money for the future. People say, I cant save money, I need to pay off my debt first. This should not be an all-or-nothing thing; it should be more of a balancing act. You want to be paying off your debt while you are saving for the future, because you dont want to miss the early earning years in your career. Time is your friend when it comes to saving and investing.Have an Emergency Fund. If your hot water tank blows up, you need to replace it right away. You want to ensure you have cash immediately on hand, avoiding the I have to use my credit card. Or, if you lost your job, you want to have cash set aside to cover your expenses. If you are in a two-income household, the rule of thumb is to have three months of expenses saved as cash. In a one-income household, you want to have six months worth. Many people lost their jobs during the pandemic, and having cash would have helped them to get through. As were saving for the future, we want to make sure were saving for the emergencies that can happen today. That needs to be a top priority.Long-Term Saving. Were saving for our immediate expenses and now we need to be thinking long-term saving for our retirements. This includes saving for our children. If you will be sending them to school, starting a 529 Plan for their college expenses makes sense. Or, if you plan to send them to private school for K-12 education, a 529 Plan can also be used for that. Working with a financial planner on what your goal is for your childs education and future is as important as working on your investment planning. The sooner you start the better. Ill get more into detail about 529 Plans in an upcoming article.Term Insurance. Term insurance is used in case something happens to the primary breadwinner. You want to make sure your spouse is protected. What happens if the breadwinner passes away unexpectedly? Term insurance is great coverage to protect your family financially in those unforeseen situations. Working with your financial planner, and walking through these steps, youll know how much coverage needs to be there and for how long to protect your family to be financially secure now and in the future. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER practitioner and a Certified Personal Finance Counselor professional with the Weber Group at Hefren-Tillotson, I have outlined these simple steps to protect you, your family, and your future. I stress the need for education because, as a former educator, I believe making informed and educated decisions about ones financial life is just as important in ones medical life. If you have concerns about getting your familys financial future in order, please contact me as I would be glad to help.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)Act, is a piece of legislation that has been implemented to help aid those who have been financially affected during these unprecedented times. Many of the provisions are specific to retirement accounts.CARES Act changes are:Hardship LoansThe maximum loan amount that can be borrowed from an employer plan has been increased to $100,000 for affected individuals. Loan payments due in 2020 are also delayed until 2021.Contribution DeadlineThe IRA contribution deadline has been pushed back to July 15, 2020 along with the 2019 tax filing deadline.Early Distributions The CARES Act waives the 10% early distribution penalty for distributions of up to $100,000 from both employer and individual retirement accounts for individuals who meet any of the following requirements:You, a spouse, or dependent has been diagnosed with COVID-19;Experience adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, laid off, or having work hours reduced because of the disease;Are unable to work because they lack childcare as a result of the disease; orOwn a business that has closed or operate under reduced hours because of the disease.These distributions are not subject to mandatory withholding requirements, and the income from the distribution can be spread out over three tax years. Individuals have three years to return any or all of the distribution taken to the account.Required Minimum Distributions Required Minimum Distributions due in 2020 have been waived. This change applies to any distribution that needed to be taken in 2020. Some individuals may want to return their 2020 RMD to their account if they have already taken it. They can return all or a portion of the distribution to the account if they meet certain requirements. Also, 2020 is no longer counted for purposes of the 5-year rule. For non-designated beneficiaries either set to begin their 5-year distribution period, or for those already in the middle of it, 2020 can be skipped entirely.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber, CFP, Vice President, Investments with Weber Group at Raymond James.

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) apply to all qualified retirement plans and IRAs, with the exception of non-inherited Roth IRAs. These accounts allow tax-deferred growth, however the deferral is limited. Eventually, participants or beneficiaries must begin to withdraw the assets, thereby incurring income taxes. A Required Minimum Distribution is the minimum annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified plan or IRA. When the distributions begin and how much must be withdrawn are regulated by the Internal Revenue Service.RMDS FOR ACCOUNT OWNERSTo determine the required beginning date (RBD) for distributions, first determine the calendar year in which the account owner turns 70.For example, someone whose birthday is August 15, 1948 would turn 70 in February 2019. Therefore, 2019 would be the first year they are required to take a distribution. The RBD is no later than April 1st of the year following their first distribution year.For every year after the first distribution year, withdrawals must be taken by December 31st.An account owners required beginning date can be delayed for a qualified plan if the account owner is still working after the age of 70. Their new required beginning date would be April 1st following the year of retirement.This delayed RBD does not apply to account owners who are more than 5% owners of the company. Being eligible for a delayed distribution for a qualified plan does not delay IRA distributions.RMD FORMULA FOR ACCOUNT OWNERSAccount Balance / Life Expectancy Factor = Distribution AmountAfter determining when to take an RMD, the next step is to calculate how much must be withdrawn.The minimum distribution amount is equal to the previous years end-of-year account balance divided by the applicable life expectancy factor.The Uniform Lifetime Table is used for all account owner RMD calculations.If your spouse is the account beneficiary and is more than ten years younger than you, you may use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table rather than the Uniform Lifetime Table. This will result in a higher factor and a lower RMD.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber, CFP, Vice President, Investments with Weber Group at Raymond James.

Taxpayers are generally required to recognize income for federal income tax purposes in the year in which it is received.However, if someone dies before receiving income to which he or she is entitled, that income is not included on his or her final income tax return. Instead, such income, referred to as income in respect of a decedent, or IRD, is included as gross income in the decedents estate for federal estate tax purposes. And, IRD also becomes taxable income to the person or entity who ultimately receives it. The inclusion of IRD on both the estate tax return (Form 706) and the recipients income tax return creates the potential for double taxation. Fortunately, to avoid this result, the tax code provides an income tax deduction for any estate tax paid that is attributable to IRD.What constitutes IRD?IRD is income the decedent earned but did not receive prior to death. A few common sources of IRD include:Uncollected salaries, wages, bonuses, commissions, vacation pay, and sick payUncollected alimony or rentInterest and dividends accruedDistributions from certain deferred compensation and stock option plansTaxable distributions from employer-sponsored retirement plans, or from IRAsWho owes income tax on IRD?IRD is taxed to the person or entity receiving it. This can be the decedents estate, the surviving spouse, or some other beneficiary. IRD is reported on the recipients income tax return in the year its received. If IRD is paid to the decedents estate, it is reported on the fiduciary return (Form 1041). If paid directly to a beneficiary, it is reported on the beneficiary's income tax return (Form 1040).Planning for IRDIt is important to plan if IRD items will make up a large portion of your estate. Here are some strategies to consider:Leave IRD items to charity, which is exempt from income taxes.Leave an IRA to a young beneficiary, which has the potential to defer the payment of income taxes for as long as possible.Leave IRD items to a credit shelter trust.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber, CFP, Vice President, Investments at Weber Group of Raymond James.

Ever wonder how you can immediately transfer securities to your loved ones once you passed?If so, you should consider a TOD designation. By making a transfer on death (TOD) designation for securities (such as individual stocks and bonds, mutual funds, or trading accounts), you will transfer ownership of these immediately at your death to the people you designated. This can be very helpful when there are limited funds for funeral expenses, helping to provide the beneficiaries an insurance like death benefit.One thing you want to keep in mind is, that although referred to as a will substitute, a transfer on death (TOD) designation can be used only to transfer certain assets. Some states will allow you only to transfer securities, while other states allow TOD designations to transfer land, cars, and other assets.An income tax consideration to keep in mind is that the recipients basis will be stepped-up (or stepped-down) to the value of the securities (or other asset) transferred using a transfer on death (TOD) designation at the time of your death. A step-up reduces the resulting taxable gain if the recipient sells the securities.Strengths to a TOD designation:Can help you avoid or minimize the expense of probateMinimizes delays in the transfer of propertyDiscourages interference with your plans to distribute your propertyCircumvents some statutory limits on your power to transfer propertyYou retain control over the securities or other assets and can revoke your designation until your deathSimple and inexpensive to createTradeoffs:Does not reduce estate taxesDoes not avoid other costs arising at deathRecipients of the property are not protected from your creditorsEditors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber, CFP, Vice President, Investments with Weber Group at Raymond James.

With more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimers, planning for the possibility of long-term care, and considering who will make decisions if you cant, is not just smart, its necessary. PROTECTING YOURSELFWhile you may think creating legal documents that grant authority for someone to act on your behalf, financially or even medically, will be enough to protect your wishes, usually more is required.When it comes to handling Social Security payments for a disabled senior, establishing powers of attorney, medical  directives or guardianship arrangements are not enough. The Social Security Administration (SSA) requires a special designation known as representative payee.A representative payee is someone who acts on behalf of another person who is incapable of representing themselves and is responsible for directing payouts exclusively to meet a beneficiarys needs. The SSA may determine that an individual is incapable of managing or directing someone else to manage his or her benefits and would then appoint a representative payee.Generally, a family member or friend serves as representative payee. If friends or family are not able to serve as payees, the SSA will look for qualified organizations to be representative payees.A critical thing to keep in mind about the responsibilities of acting as a representative payee is that the permissions that accompany the role do not extend to other facets of your affairs. Making medical decisions or signing legal documents on your behalf will still require that someone be granted powers of attorney or guardianship.PROTECTING A LOVED ONEIf you assume the role of representative payee, this will likely require a trip to a Social Security office and a completed SSA-11 form explaining why the beneficiary needs assistance and why they have selected you for the job.Recall, too, that this designation will be in addition to any other legal or medical role you might be playing for your loved one. Its one piece of the larger whole that, with forethought and planning, can help ensure your loved ones or your own future is secure.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Erin Weber. Erin is a Financial Advisor with the Weber Group of Raymond James. She may be reached at 878.208.1285 orErin.Weber@RaymondJames.com. Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC