Comments for Forefield Forum

Comment on Employer plan to Roth rollovers… Can you make a tax free rollover if you have after-tax dollars? by Rob Cardinale

Rob Cardinale — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:59:11 +0000

Hi Sharon

That’s exactly the issue– if an employer uses the separate contract method permitted by Section 72(d)(2), it can treat distributions of after-tax contributions, and earnings on those contributions, as coming out of an entirely separate bucket, unaffected by the pro-rata rule.

Comment on Employer plan to Roth rollovers… Can you make a tax free rollover if you have after-tax dollars? by Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:09:47 +0000

Not exactly, The employer cannot distribute just the after-tax amount. The distribution must include a prorated amount of pre-tax and after-tax

Comment on End of Road for “Clunkers” by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:26:34 +0000

when is cash for appliances going to start? thanks.

Comment on Mortgage Insurance with a Twist by Mortgage

Mortgage — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:35:36 +0000

Yeah, I think as the largest banking system IMF can do something for this.

Comment on What a difference a day makes… by Online Bank CD Rates

Online Bank CD Rates — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:29:39 +0000

I would lean towards fear. Frankly, they did it to themselves, though. They allowed Greed to overshadow reason.

Sadly, I think every plan Geitner has put forward so far has been a failure, and I don’t think this one is much diffferent.

The economy would recover on its own and be stronger for it, if the Gov’t would just get out of the way.

Comment on Tax reform, take two by Taxpayer_Owner

Taxpayer_Owner — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:16:33 +0000

Sure Ms. Olson has talked about the IRS’s shortcomings, ruffled a few feathers, and wrote some tough reports. Unfortunately, Ms. Olson has not been able to get very much accomplished in her seven years on the job other then create a high employee turnover rate. She tried to simplify the tax code by creating a standard definition of a child. When all was said and done, she only made matters worse. So much worse, the law had to be amended.

Ms. Olson also destroyed the very program in the IRS that was set up to assist taxpayers. Before Ms. Olson, if you needed help with a tax problem that was not dealt with satisfactorily through normal channels the IRS would transfer your case over to a group that had the experience in your particular issue and the authority to fix your problem on the spot. Ms. Olson has forsaken this logic. Now if you need help and your case is transferred over to her program it will most likely be assigned to someone that is not experienced or even properly trained to assist you. Moreover, even if the employee understands your situation they will not be able to fix it. They will have to turn around and request the IRS to fix it. Not only is this a poor way to assist taxpayers it also costs taxpayers more money.

The Taxpayer Advocate’s office has an important role of advocating for all taxpayers. While Ms. Olson does an adequate job of this, she does not advocate very well for the individual taxpayer who comes into her office for assistance. For that reason, her employees that work with taxpayers should be reassigned back to the IRS where they will be better trained and better able to quickly assist taxpayers in their moment of need.

Comment on Bonus? No thanks… by Ben

Ben — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:11:16 +0000

I am crying crocodile tears for these A.I.G. people and their legally binding contracts. They literally destroy the global economy by spreading their toxic credit default swaps all over the globe, and they have the gall to accept million-dollar bonuses? They care about no one in the world except themselves. Let them send in the after-tax remainder to the IRS.

Comment on Colleges: a new reality by BMT

BMT — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:08:32 +0000

Just to add a bit of texture to this a study was conducted by SmartMoney magazine and published in the December issue about the after cost value of an Ivy League education.

SmartMoney took a crack at quantifying the long-term value of a college education. The goal was to spotlight the relationship between tuition costs and graduates’ earning power. Working with consultant PayScale.com, which recently published a groundbreaking survey on alumni salaries, they first looked at what graduates from 50 of the most expensive four-year colleges earn in their early and midcareers. Then they factored in their up-front tuition and fees. The result? A unique “payback” ratio for each school.

In the end, the scorecard may be music to the ears of many state-school admissions deans—not to mention a lot of struggling parents. After all, who would’ve guessed that Texas A & M, No. 1 in the survey, would deliver a payback more than two and a half times that of Harvard? Or that the state universities of Delaware and Rhode Island would beat out every Ivy in the ranking?

Indeed, those unheralded public universities turn out to be a far better deal than virtually all the privates we surveyed. The Ivies in general? They deliver nowhere near the payback on tuition that most parents staring at a six-figure bill over four years might expect.

Comment on Unfair RMDs by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:06:41 +0000

Kennedy introduced a bill this week (HR 3361) that would suspend RMD requirements for 2009.

Comment on Unfair RMDs by joetaxpayer

joetaxpayer — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:48:40 +0000

But think of it this way – if the market rebounds, the gain in those shares will have favorable cap gains rates. The RMD is at ordinary income rates.
Remember – the RMD can be ‘in kind’ you can take the shares out of the IRA, they need not be sold. They take the basis of the value the day they are pulled out. You’re actually getting more shares out for the same tax hit.
The glass is half full, my friend.
Joe