#financial-planning
Plan and optimize your financial future with data-driven insights
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.
Filing IRS Form 706 to elect portability lets a surviving spouse inherit up to $15 million of unused federal estate tax exemption (the DSUE), shielding combined estates of up to $30 million from the 40% federal estate tax in 2026. Miss the nine-month deadline and Rev. Proc. 2022-32 still allows a late election within five years of death.
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 practical playbook for building a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast using the direct method—how to model receipts, disbursements, and weekly variance so small businesses spot liquidity gaps four to twelve weeks before they hit.
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.
US OBBBA's 0.5% AGI floor and 35% cap hit in 2026 — how donor-advised fund bunching still clears the federal charitable hurdle.
At the May 2026 reset, Series I Savings Bonds pay a 4.26% composite rate — a 0.90% fixed rate locked for 30 years plus a 3.34% annualized inflation rate — with state-tax exemption and a $10,000-per-SSN annual cap. A practical guide to where I bonds fit in personal and small-business cash strategy, including LLC entity-account stacking, the 12-month lock and 5-year penalty, and the education-exclusion rules.
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.
How the 2026 Health Savings Account combines tax-free contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free medical withdrawals — and how the shoebox strategy turns an $8,750 family limit into a six- to seven-figure retirement vehicle by age 65.
U.S. cash balance pension plans let solo doctors, attorneys, and consultants deduct $100,000–$370,000 a year on top of a Solo 401(k). 2026 contribution limits, a worked example for a 54-year-old physician, and the actuarial commitments to weigh before signing.
