Saving for College and Retirement

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Tips on trying to meet two great financial goals at once.

Provided by Magnate Wealth Management

Saving for retirement is a must. Saving for college is certainly a priority. How do you do both at once?

Saving for retirement should always come first. After all, retirees cannot apply for financial aid; college students can. That said, there are ways to try and accomplish both objectives within the big picture of your financial strategy.

As a first step, whittle down household debt. True, some debts are not easily reduced, and some are worth assuming, but many are byproducts of our wants rather than our needs. NerdWallet, a personal finance website, notes that the average U.S. household now carries credit card debt of more than $15,000. Less revolving consumer debt means more money available to potentially direct toward a retirement fund and a college fund.1

See if your children have a chance to qualify for need-based financial aid. Impossible, you say? You may be surprised. You can have one million dollars in your IRA or your workplace retirement plan and not impact your child’s potential for need-based financial aid one iota. That is because those retirement accounts are not considered parental assets in the calculation of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that factors into determining a student’s need.2

That “need” is determined through a basic equation: the cost to attend the school minus the EFC equals the financial need of the student. So, in theory, the lower you can keep your EFC, the more need-based financial assistance your student deserves.2

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and College Board CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE use slightly different calculation methods to determine the EFC. Both student and parental assets factor into the calculation. What usually counts most is the income of the parent(s), minus some taxes, tax deductions, and allowances. Capital gains from investment accounts can qualify as “parent income,” and so can Roth and traditional IRA distributions.2,3

Money held inside a qualified retirement plan, though, is not included in need analysis formulas. Life insurance cash values rarely count. Most Coverdell ESAs and UGMA and UTMA accounts represent assets owned by the child, and child assets receive 20% weighting in EFC calculations (parental income receives up to 47% weighting). Parental assets, as opposed to parental income, are weighted at no more than 5.64% yearly. Cash and brokerage accounts are considered parental assets; so are student-owned 529 plans. Even real estate investments can be defined as parental assets.3,4

The CSS PROFILE form does inquire about retirement account values and life insurance cash values, but they are not factored into the EFC calculation. They may be considered if a college financial aid officer needs to make an assessment of the overall financial health of a household pursuant to a financial aid decision.2

What if your kids have little or no chance to receive financial aid? Then scholarships and grants represent the primary routes to easing the tuition burden. So save for retirement as well as you can and save for college in a way that promotes the best after-tax return on your investment.

Feel free to max out your workplace retirement plan contribution (and get the match from your employer). If you do so, the impact on your child’s eligibility for college aid would be negligible. If you have a Roth IRA or permanent life insurance policy, think about the ways they can be used in college planning as well as retirement and estate planning. You may be able to tap a life insurance policy’s cash value to pay some college costs, and distributions from a Roth IRA occurring before age 59½ are exempt from the standard 10% early withdrawal penalty if they are used for qualified educational expenses.5

Even if your household is high-income, look at the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The AOTC is a federal tax credit of up to $2,500 per year that can be applied toward qualified higher education expenses. It is better than a federal tax deduction, as it lowers your federal income tax dollar-for-dollar. If you are married and you and your spouse file jointly, you are eligible to claim the AOTC if your modified adjusted gross incomes total $180,000 or less. If you are a single filer, you are eligible if your modified adjusted gross income is $90,000 or less. Phase-out ranges do kick in at $160,000 for joint filers and $80,000 for single filers.6

Magnate Wealth Management may be reached at 502-855-3160 or bgorter@magnatewealth.com.

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

Registered Investment Advisory services offered through Magnate Wealth Management, LLC., a Registered Investment Adviser. Securities and advisory services offered through Silver Oak Securities, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Magnate Wealth Management, LLC., Capital Wealth Management, LLC. and Silver Oak Securities, Inc. are separate entities

Citations.
1 – dailyfinance.com/2016/03/23/8-financial-decisions-youll-regret-forever/ [3/23/16]
2 – forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2016/02/29/balancing-act-strategically-saving-for-college-and-retirement/ [2/29/16]
3 – money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor/articles/2016-03-18/strategies-to-maximize-college-savings-and-financial-aid [3/18/16]
4 – finaid.org/savings/accountownership.phtml [4/6/16]
5 – irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Participant,-Employee/Retirement-Topics-Tax-on-Early-Distributions [2/22/16]
6 – irs.gov/Individuals/AOTC [12/8/15]

Are There Really Tax-Free Retirement Plan Distributions?

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A look at some popular & obscure options for receiving money with little or no tax.

Provided by Magnate Wealth Management

Will you receive tax-free money in retirement? Some retirees do. You should know about some of your options for tax-free retirement distributions, some of which are less publicized than others.

Qualified distributions from Roth accounts are tax-free. If you own a Roth IRA or have a Roth retirement account at work, you can take a tax-free distribution from that IRA or workplace retirement plan once you are older than 59½ and have held the account for at least five tax years. One other nice perk: original owners of Roth IRAs never have to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) during their lifetimes. (Owners of employer-sponsored Roth retirement accounts are required to take RMDs.)1,2

Trustee-to-trustee transfers of retirement plan money occur without being taxed. In a rollover of this kind, the custodian financial firm that hosts your workplace retirement plan account makes a payment directly out of the account to an IRA you have waiting, with not a penny in taxes levied or withheld. Trustee-to-trustee transfers of IRAs work the same way.3

If you are older than 80, you might get a tax break on a lump-sum withdrawal. If you were born prior to January 2, 1936, you could be entitled to a tax reduction on a lump-sum distribution out of a qualified retirement plan in certain cases. Unfortunately, this is never the case with an IRA RMD.4

Your heirs could receive tax-free dollars resulting from life insurance. Payouts on permanent life insurance policies are normally exempt from federal income tax. (The payout may be included in the value of your taxable estate, though.) A life insurance death benefit paid out from a qualified retirement plan is also tax-exempt provided the death benefit is greater than the policy’s pre-death cash surrender value. Even if an employee takes a distribution from a corporate-owned life insurance policy on his or her life while still alive, that distribution may not be fully taxable as it may constitute a return of the principal invested in the life insurance contract.4,5

Sometimes the basis in a workplace retirement account can be withdrawn tax-free. If you have made non-deductible contributions through the years to an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement plan account, these contributions are not taxable when they are distributed to the original account owner, accountholder, or an account beneficiary – it is considered return of principal, a recovery of the original account owner or accountholder’s cost of investment.4

IRA contributions can optionally be withdrawn tax-free before their due date. As an example, your 2016 IRA contribution can be withdrawn tax-free by the due date of your federal tax return – April 15 or thereabouts. If you file Form 4868, you have until October 15 (or thereabouts) to do this.6

Withdrawals such as these can only happen, however, if you meet two tests set forth by the IRS. First, you must not have taken a deduction for your contribution. Second, you must, additionally, withdraw any interest or income those invested dollars earned. You can also take investment losses into account. (There is a worksheet in IRS Publication 590 you can use to calculate applicable gains or losses.)6

These common and obscure paths toward tax-free retirement income may be worth exploring. Who knows? Perhaps, this year, your retirement will be less taxing than you think.

Magnate Wealth Management may be reached at 502-855-3160 or bgorter@magnatewealth.com.

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

Registered Investment Advisory services offered through Magnate Wealth Management, LLC., a Registered Investment Adviser. Securities and advisory services offered through Silver Oak Securities, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Magnate Wealth Management, LLC., Capital Wealth Management, LLC. and Silver Oak Securities, Inc. are separate entities.

Citations.
1 – irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-on-designated-roth-accounts [1/26/16]
2 – irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-required-minimum-distributions [7/28/16]
3 – irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/rollovers-of-retirement-plan-and-ira-distributions [2/19/16]
4 – news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=764726 [8/13/16]
5 – doughroller.net/personal-finance/life-insurance-proceeds-tax/ [8/18/16]
6 – tinyurl.com/gwoxed8 [8/18/16]

How Much Income Do You Need in Retirement?

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How much retirement income is enough? In this client-ready video, Marlena Lee, PhD, explains that the answer should be customized for each individual, based on their lifestyle and their income prior to retirement.

How Much Should You Save for Retirement?

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How much should you be saving for retirement? Massi De Santis, PhD, explains that the answer should be customized for each individual, based on how their income grows prior to retirement.