American retirement planning

[Langsuan Man]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

I've sent an email to our adviser.  I'm not certain how to shop for a new one when we haven't set foot in the U.S. for over 8 years

I wouldn't waste my time.  Seems to me that if a financial advisor knows anything he would be enriching himself and not need your money to make a living

 

My luck with these so called professionals has never been very useful and sometimes counter productive 

 

I recently consulted with a CPA on a tax question on how to lower my taxable income once Required Minimum Distribution kicks in at age 70 1/2.   He advised me to start liquidating some of my IRA and 401K assets now to bring down my total portfolio value (at age 66)   

 

I took his advice and then got banged with an additional $48.70 a month in Medicare Part B premiums for my efforts.  He had my tax filing for the previous 4 years, had full disclosure of my assets , and still failed to catch the "penalty" his solution would cause, especially since a good portion of my annual income is in tax free municipal bonds 

 

He, as a professional, should have known that Medicare uses a different formula for determining Adjusted Gross Income, which they euphomistically call Modified Adjusted Gross Income which includes tax free bonds as taxable income for your Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount 

[CaptHaddock]

4 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

I wouldn't waste my time.  Seems to me that if a financial advisor knows anything he would be enriching himself and not need your money to make a living

 

My luck with these so called professionals has never been very useful and sometimes counter productive 

 

I recently consulted with a CPA on a tax question on how to lower my taxable income once Required Minimum Distribution kicks in at age 70 1/2.   He advised me to start liquidating some of my IRA and 401K assets now to bring down my total portfolio value (at age 66)   

 

I took his advice and then got banged with an additional $48.70 a month in Medicare Part B premiums for my efforts.  He had my tax filing for the previous 4 years, had full disclosure of my assets , and still failed to catch the "penalty" his solution would cause, especially since a good portion of my annual income is in tax free municipal bonds 

 

He, as a professional, should have known that Medicare uses a different formula for determining Adjusted Gross Income, which they euphomistically call Modified Adjusted Gross Income which includes tax free bonds as taxable income for your Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount 

I suppose that you are aware of your option to do Roth conversions in the years prior to RMDs and the beginning of SS benefits, if you are also delaying SS.  It would usually make sense to convert an annual amount up to the top of your current bracket each year before 70.5. 

 

If your FA advised you to take distributions from your tax-deferred accounts, which you did not need to meet expenses and did not also advise you to convert them to a Roth, then he was indeed negligent beyond the Medicare MAGI consequences.  There is never any downside to contributing any money you can to a Roth after age 59.5 since you can always take it back out without tax or penalty. 

[Langsuan Man]

8 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

If your FA advised you to take distributions from your tax-deferred accounts, which you did not need to meet expenses and did not also advise you to convert them to a Roth, then he was indeed negligent beyond the Medicare MAGI consequences.  There is never any downside to contributing any money you can to a Roth after age 59.5 since you can always take it back out without tax or penalty. 

Exactly my point, he should have known about MAGI, it's his business , isn't that what CPA's do, advise people on tax issues 

 

I make the money and he is supposed to show me how to keep as much away from the tax man as is legal 

[CaptHaddock]

Just now, Langsuan Man said:

Exactly my point, he should have known about MAGI, it's his business , isn't that what CPA's do, advise people on tax issues 

 

I make the money and he is supposed to show me how to keep as much away from the tax man as is legal 

My point is that you may well have lost more by not making Roth conversions instead of taking simple distributions, that would dwarf the extra $48/month that is going to Medicare.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just was reading some useful info re Social Security this evening. Thought I'd share it here:

 

 

 

 

This items below bears on the discussion above about the prospect for the Republicans making changes to the retirement age standards. In the below example, apparently they were/are targeting those born in 1969 and after.

 

 

This last item was messed up on the website in terms of formatting, so I'm copying and pasting the text here instead in order to correct the info and make it understandable:

 

Quote

 

Applying Early Can Cost You Money

When should you start collecting Social Security benefits? Perhaps you are worried about the future of Social Security, and want to take your benefit early to get what you can now. You can start your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, but you will get a significantly lower benefit amount than if you wait until full retirement age.

 

According to the Social Security Administration, if your full retirement age is 66, your benefits will be:

25 percent less if you retire at 62, 20 percent less if you retire at 63, 13.3 percent less if you retire at 64, 6.7 percent less if you retire at 65.

 

 

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/20-unsettling-things-you-need-to-know-about-social-security/ss-AAn7IWR

[gk10002000]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 11:45 PM, Langsuan Man said:

Exactly my point, he should have known about MAGI, it's his business , isn't that what CPA's do, advise people on tax issues 

 

I make the money and he is supposed to show me how to keep as much away from the tax man as is legal 

MAGI is so often ignored or unknown to so many people.  The reason is so many people do NOT have any sorts of investments! So many financial advisors and even CPAs are low level workers that don't make a lot of money.   My take is if any advisor asks to see my financial statements, I say BS. Show me his financial statements.  If he is so smart, why isn't he making money?