Articles on Wealth Management Topics

There was a lot of hoopla when the rules were changed a few years ago to allow any taxpayer, regardless of income level, to convert IRA's and retirement plans to Roth accounts. So much so that you would think Roth conversions were "no-brainer" decisions. But in reality, a Roth conversion probably only makes sense for a small minority of investors. Here are some of the major factors to consider in deciding whether to convert your IRA or retirement plan account to a Roth IRA.

Clients who've endured conversations with me about their recommended asset allocation know how much I stress the importance of their investment time horizon. During a recent discussion about investment ideas, my dad suggested "What's your time horizon?" be my epitaph. Maybe so, but considering in advance when you will need the money you're investing can keep you from making the worst kinds of financial mistakes. And keeping your investment horizon in mind during periods of market turbulence should help keep you on course for attaining your financial goals.

To pick up where we left off in our last blog post on the role of annuities in a retirement portfolio, immediate annuities can serve a useful function. But like any other financial product, there are cost-effective, well-engineered annuities and expensive, poorly-designed ones. Here are some welcome and interesting annuity features that you may be unaware of if your only prior experience with annuities is through an insurance salesperson:

If there's one investment vehicle that causes more controversy than any other, it has to be the annuity. Opinions among financial professionals are usually divided along the lines of compensation model. Commission-based brokers and insurance salespeople tend to think more highly of them, and to recommend them more frequently, than Fee-Only financial planners.

In the prior posting in our series, Articles on Wealth Management Topics, we discussed the basics of the Roth 401(k) plans that many employers have introduced in recent years. But are these plans right for you, or should you stick to contributing to the traditional 401(k)? Let's talk about some of the circumstances that would make Roth 401(k) contributions more attractive.

Now that Roth 401(k) plans have become a permanent fixture, more companies are beginning to offer this option to employees. With that in mind, let's take a look at the major features of this relatively new type of retirement plan.

One of the most widespread misconceptions or overlooked opportunities in retirement planning concerns contributions to IRAs.

Years ago, I was quoted in Newsweek as having said, "If you can't get by on the wise 4 percent withdrawal rate [from your retirement nest egg], you should have a serious talk with yourself and your spouse about your priorities, trade-offs and aspirations." While it's certainly nice being mentioned in a national publication, the material I contributed to the article had nothing to do with withdrawal rates from retirement portfolios. And financial planning rules of thumb are next to useless.