Especially around year end, I often hear the question “Should I do a Roth IRA conversion? What are the long-term benefits of paying X amount to convert now?”. To help answer this question, below is a simple Roth IRA conversion calculator, where I am making the following assumptions: You have a certain amount in a […]
After several years of rising US stock prices, I am often asked when the next crash, or at least next big correction, is coming. I believe it is foolish to try and time the market, but I do believe it makes sense to sell out of expensive assets and buy into better value assets (buy […]
How to buy real estate in an IRA It is actually relatively easy to buy real estate in an IRA. The main step required is to rollover your IRA balance from your old 401k plan or IRA custodian to a “self-directed IRA” with a custodian that focuses on the administration and compliance of self-directed IRAs. […]
One of the biggest complaints I hear about US Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) is that the maximum contribution limits are too low and not worth the hassle. As an illustration of how saving regularly in an IRA can be very much worth the hassle, I thought it would be worth showing how the low maximum […]
Spring is here, Easter is this weekend, and April starts next week, which for Americans may all serve as reminders of the April 15th (April 17th in 2018) tax filing deadline for US taxes. Even if you are taking an extension to file your 2017 US tax return, remember that you may still need to […]
IRA contribution limits have remained mostly the same from 2017 to 2018, with traditional and Roth IRA contributions limited to US$5,500/year for US taxpayers under 50, and US$6,500/year for those 50 and older. To make a Roth IRA contribution, your adjusted gross income (AGI) needs to be below US$120,000 for single taxpayers with an AGI […]
When investing retirement accounts, we are often told to invest aggressively (mostly in stocks) when saving as young employees, and then rotate more and more of the account towards more conservative investments (bonds and REITs) as retirement approaches. One overly simple rule is to allocate 100 minus your age in stocks, so that a 20 […]
Considering Roth conversions as an expat is similar to considering if, when, and how much to do one when living in the US. What is a Roth conversion? A Roth conversion turns a traditional IRA (on which you may have already gotten a tax deduction, but will need to pay tax when you withdraw at […]
After changing jobs, or even getting posted on an expat assignment by the same company, employees generally have the freedom to do a 401k rollover of their retirement savings account to an IRA account at their choice of brokerage firm or mutual fund company. Doing a 401k rollover to an IRA, and consolidating all your […]
In the US, many employees have 401(k) plans that automatically deduct a significant portion of their salaries into a tax-advantaged retirement account. Many 401(k) plans only allow these savings to be invested in a limited selection of mutual funds, and some 401(k) plans only offer expensive, poorly performing funds rather than low-cost index funds or […]