#retirement-savings
Track retirement savings and investment growth
A complete 2026 guide to Qualified Charitable Distributions — the IRS-sanctioned strategy that lets retirees age 70½ and older route up to $111,000 from an IRA directly to a qualified charity without recognizing the distribution as taxable income.
Section 415(c) caps total 2026 annual additions to a defined contribution plan at $72,000 — covering employee deferrals, employer matches, and after-tax contributions. The math behind the mega backdoor Roth, the catch-up rules that sit outside the cap, and the EPCRS correction order if the limit is blown.
SECURE 2.0 cut the missed-RMD excise tax from 50% to 25%, and to just 10% if the shortfall is corrected within a two-year window. Form 5329 is how taxpayers claim the reduced rate or request a full reasonable-cause waiver, and the form also starts the IRS's three-year limitations clock.
Tax year 2026 is the final year for the Saver's Credit, a nonrefundable credit worth up to $1,000 per person ($2,000 MFJ) for IRA and 401(k) contributions. This guide covers the 2026 AGI brackets, Form 8880 line by line, and what changes when the Saver's Match arrives in 2027.
The OBBBA's new $6,000 senior bonus deduction (up to $12,000 per couple) phases out at 6% per dollar of MAGI above $75,000 single / $150,000 joint and disappears entirely at $175,000 / $250,000. Available for tax years 2025 through 2028, stackable with the standard deduction and itemized deductions for taxpayers 65 and older.
A practitioner's guide to the SECURE 2.0 Act's 529-to-Roth IRA rollover — the five hard rules, the $35,000 lifetime cap, the state-tax traps in California, Indiana, and Massachusetts, and five strategic plays for converting unused college savings into tax-free retirement money.
SECURE 2.0 lets families roll up to $35,000 of unused 529 funds into the beneficiary's Roth IRA tax-free. Here are the six rules every rollover must satisfy, the two mistakes that turn it taxable, the state-level traps, and the four strategies that make the rule genuinely useful.
Beginning January 1, 2026, SECURE 2.0 forces employees with prior-year FICA wages above $150,000 to make 401(k) catch-up contributions on a Roth basis—$8,000 standard, $11,250 for ages 60–63—with no pre-tax option. Here is exactly who is affected, what it costs in real dollars, and the steps to take before the first paycheck of 2026.
A practitioner's guide to the tax mechanics of divorce — how a QDRO splits a 401(k) penalty-free, why alimony in agreements executed after 2018 is no longer deductible, how Section 1041 carryover basis can turn a 50/50 settlement into an unequal one, and how the Section 121 home-sale exclusion survives when one spouse moves out.
A record 6% of 401(k) participants took a hardship withdrawal in 2025. This guide compares hardship withdrawals, plan loans, and SECURE 2.0 penalty-free distributions—with the actual tax math, deemed-distribution traps, and a decision framework for when to tap retirement funds.
SECURE 2.0 lets the beneficiary of a 529 plan roll up to $35,000 of unused college savings into a Roth IRA tax-free and outside Roth income limits, provided the account is 15+ years old, contributions are 5+ years seasoned, and the beneficiary has earned income. This guide walks through the five federal tests, the state tax clawbacks that can erase the benefit, and a clean five-year execution plan.
A see-through trust named on an IRA beneficiary form must navigate the SECURE Act 10-year rule. Conduit trusts pass every distribution through to the beneficiary by year ten, while accumulation trusts retain assets but face compressed trust brackets that reach the 37 percent federal rate at just $16,000 of retained income in 2026.
