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Retirement

Retirement accounts and planning for individuals, including IRA and 401(k) rollover rules, contribution limits, distributions, beneficiary issues, and the tax treatment of retirement savings

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July 21, 20267 min read

CCRC Entrance Fee Accounting: Deferred Revenue, the Future Service Obligation, and the $190 Million Refund Problem

Since 2020, at least 16 CCRC bankruptcies have cost residents an estimated $190 million in unpaid entrance-fee refunds. Here is how continuing care retirement communities actually account for entrance fees — deferred-revenue amortization, the actuarially computed Future Service Obligation (FSO) liability, and the re-occupancy dependency that can make a community look solvent on paper right up until it fails.

Mike Thrift

healthcareretirementrevenue-recognition

July 20, 202610 min read

SEP IRA vs. Solo 401(k) vs. SIMPLE IRA in 2026: Contribution Limits, Deadlines, and the Tax Math for Solo Owners With and Without Employees

Solo owner with $140K profit can do $28K SEP, $35K Solo 401(k), or $16K SIMPLE — same profit, different deductions. Match the plan to employees, profit, and whether you need the deduction by December 31 or April 15.

Mike Thrift

retirementsmall-businessfinance

July 13, 20268 min read

The DOL Fiduciary Rule Is Dead Again: What It Means for Your 401(k) in 2026

The DOL's 2024 Retirement Security Rule was formally vacated in March 2026, reverting fiduciary status for 401(k) rollover advice to the 1975 five-part test — here's what plan sponsors and savers should ask advisors now.

Mike Thrift

retirement401kretirement-planning

July 7, 20269 min read

The Cash Balance Plan: How High-Earning Business Owners Contribute $200,000+ a Year Toward Retirement

Beyond the 401(k): how owners 50+ use a cash balance pension to deduct $200k–$400k a year — who benefits, what it costs, and why it requires annual funding and actuarial discipline.

Mike Thrift

retirementsmall-businessfinance

May 19, 202610 min read

The 0.5% AGI Floor on Charitable Gifts: Preserving Your Deduction in 2026 With Bunching, DAFs, and QCDs

Starting in 2026, OBBBA imposes a 0.5% AGI floor on itemized charitable contributions and caps top-bracket deductions at 35 cents per dollar. Bunching gifts, funding a donor-advised fund, and making qualified charitable distributions from an IRA recover most of the lost benefit for typical itemizing donors.

Mike Thrift

charitable-givingtax-planningtax-deductions

May 18, 20269 min read

The Standard Deduction Is Now Permanent: How OBBBA Reshapes the Itemize-vs-Standard Decision for 2026

How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the doubled standard deduction permanent, raised the SALT cap to $40,000, added a 0.5% AGI charitable floor, and stacked a $6,000 senior bonus deduction — with concrete math for the 2026 itemize-versus-standard decision.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-planningtax-deductions

May 17, 202615 min read

Form 1099-R Box 7 Distribution Codes, Decoded

Box 7 of Form 1099-R holds a one- or two-character code that decides whether a retirement distribution is taxable, penalty-free, or hit with a 10% early-withdrawal penalty. This guide explains every numeric and letter code, including the new Code Y for qualified charitable distributions, and the coding errors that overcharge taxpayers.

Mike Thrift

taxretirementpersonal-finance

May 17, 20269 min read

The IRA Once-Per-Year Rollover Rule: One 60-Day Rollover and the Trustee-to-Trustee Workaround

You get only one IRA-to-IRA 60-day rollover per rolling 12-month period, counting all your IRAs as one account — a limit the 2014 Bobrow Tax Court case made aggregate. Trustee-to-trustee transfers are exempt and unlimited.

Mike Thrift

retirementtaxpersonal-finance

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