At the end of the day, all of your retirement money is treated in one of three ways: taxable, tax-deferred or tax-free. Taxable income is taxed during the year in which it is received, e.g., pension or investment income. Taxable income may also be tax-favored if from capital gains, dividends or certain other activities. Earnings from tax-free municipal bonds are lower than their taxable counterparts; thus, taxes are implicit, so put these bonds in the taxable classification. For many retirees, Social Security benefits are taxable also; as I mentioned before in my Retirement Blog. Tax-deferred earnings are not taxed as income now but will be in the future when withdrawn and used, e.g., IRA, 401(k) and annuity earnings. If passed to the next generation, the deferred taxes will be paid by the beneficiary or the estate of the deceased. Tax-free income may have been taxed earlier but is not again taxed when withdrawn and used, for example money take from a Roth IRA.
Which of these three tax strategies is best? The correct answer is “it depends” because the best strategy depends on factors that cannot be predicted: changing tax rates, life expectancy, future income, allowable deductions and more. Since the future is uncertain, diversification would appear to be prudent. The exact composition of the diversification will be a matter of personal preference, but it seems logical tax diversification might be better than the risk of guessing wrong. Unfortunately, most retirees have little tax diversification.
The tax deferred bucket can be accomplished by using qualified retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), etc. or tax-deferred annuities. The taxable bucket is generally filled with investment/business income, rents and salary/wages, plus Social Security benefits are generally taxable. The difficult bucket to fill, especially for the affluent, is the tax-free one. While income from municipal bonds is tax-free, the lower returns offset this feature. The logical choice for tax-free income is the Roth IRA. Most employers have not yet added the Roth option to their 401(k) and most high-income families cannot qualify for Roth contributions or conversions. In 2010 the Roth conversion income limit will be suspended, allowing higher income families to take advantage of tax diversification.
With tax diversification you can hedge the uncertainties of future tax changes. This is why the window of opportunity for a Roth conversion in 2010 should not be ignored. If your current adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000, you do not now qualify for Roth conversion but you will in 2010. As icing on the cake, the taxes from a 2010 Roth conversion can be spread equally over 2011 and 2012. Unfortunately, many will miss the opportunity because their retirement money is unnecessarily locked in 401(k) and other employer-sponsored plans which prevent withdrawal unless an easy, but relatively unknown, provision is added to the plan. Once converted to a Roth it will not be subject to income taxes nor required annual distribution, plus all money and future earnings will be tax-free to the beneficiaries. If you need tax diversification, ask your financial advisor about converting your qualified retirement money to a Roth IRA.
Shelby J. Smith, Ph.D.
March 2009
TheRetirementPros.com
Helpful Resources: Tax-Free Retirement Income & More (12 min Video Report), You, Taxes & Retirement (eReport PDF & 10min Video Report).
As I mentioned in my retirement blog, many retirees with money in the “market” face a dilemma: outliving their money UNLESS the market recovers. They now know as “myths” what heretofore were known as “facts”. Facts such as: diversification works; blue chips stocks are safe; dividends can be counted on; retirement accounts are secure; market risks are suitable. Among these “myths” is: you’ll do fine in the market long-term. Ever noticed that “long-term” is never quantified? Let’s look at the long-term from the prospective of retirees or those in the retirement red zone.
Regardless of where you turn there is a tax – income, sales, property, gas, estate, gift, liquor, tobacco, telephone, import, export, capital gains, unemployment, Social Security, Medicare and several hundred more that you pay knowingly and unknowingly.
Confusion in the investment markets continues to decimate account values while shell-shocked investors look for answers. As mentioned in this retirement blog, you’ve experienced it everyday for the last year – growing losses, shrinking values and more bad news. Some losses have been so severe that again attaining the last high water market seems impossible. If you’ve lost 50%, or more, you now know your tolerance for loss is not as great as you thought, but still many are holding onto the hope that staying put is the best strategy. That may not be the case. Let’s look at a real world situation.
The strategy of converting to a Roth IRA is emerging as one of the bright spots on an otherwise dismal financial landscape. As you know & as I mentioned in my retirement blog, once qualified money is placed in a Roth IRA it, and subsequent earnings, is income tax free forever. As you may not know, now is an excellent time to convert to a Roth IRA if you can qualify. Qualifications are straightforward: first you must have qualified money in a retirement account that can be moved, and second your Adjusted Gross Income (single or married filing jointly) cannot exceed $100,000 during the conversion year. Should the smart money pivot to the Roth?

