Retirement planning

Lyle Benson of L.K. Benson & Co., who chairs the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee, talks with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Dan Hood about how accountants can help their clients with planning out their cash flow, expenses, taxes, asset allocation and investment strategy before and after they retire.

Naming a trust as an IRA beneficiary may offer many benefits. If drafted properly, a trust can protect the account from creditors and reduce the risk that money will be mishandled.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center has released an advisory document on the importance of hiring a quality auditor to perform employee benefit plan financial statement audits, along information to help select a quality auditor.

The share of families with an individual account retirement plan such as an IRA or 401(k) is decreasing, but the assets in those plans are increasing, according to a new study.

The Internal Revenue Service is being urged to bolster its enforcement efforts on multimillion-dollar Individual Retirement Accounts in a new government report that also encourages Congress to provide more direction.

HD Investment Services has enhanced its 1040 Analyst wealth management tool with additional retirement planning features.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance clarifying the impact that a 2014 rollover of an individual retirement arrangement has on the one-per-year limit imposed by the Tax Code on tax-free rollovers between IRAs.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued guidance aimed at expanding the use of income annuities in 401(k) plans.

The Internal Revenue Service posted the annual cost-of-living adjustments for pension plans and other retirement plans for 2015, allowing taxpayers to contribute up to $18,000 in their 401(k) plans in 2015.

U.S. Wealth Management president and CEO John Napolitano discusses the key elements in building a holistic financial plan for clients and their families, in an interview with Accounting Today managing editor Tamika Cody.

The American Institute of CPAs has asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to reject appeals by EEOC staff to investigate and litigate against accounting firms about their mandatory partner retirement provisions, saying in a letter Monday that the classification of partners as employees would be disruptive to the accounting profession and its business practices.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Employee Benefit Plans Expert Panel has developed some new practice aids to provide nonauthoritative guidance about the effects of recent accounting standards relating to the liquidation basis of accounting on employee benefit plans.

The Internal Revenue Service has released proposed regulations to address the tax treatment of distributions from designated Roth IRA accounts under tax-favored retirement plans.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been questioning some of the Big Four accounting firms about their policy of requiring their partners to agree to retire at a specific age.

If it seems impossible to amass a fortune in an IRA during your lifetime, think again.

About 9,000 U.S. taxpayers have each accumulated at least $5 million in individual retirement accounts, said the Government Accountability Office, raising questions about some investors’ tax-advantaged returns.

Lyle Benson of L.K. Benson & Co., who chairs the AICPA's PFP section, discusses how CPA financial planners can make sure their clients' assets last throughout their retirement years, along with the tax planning aspects of retirement planning, in an interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Dan Hood.

Ted Sarenski, president and CEO of Blue Ocean Strategic Capital, discusses the findings of the AICPA Personal Financial Planning section's Elder Planning Task Force survey on major issues surrounding financial planning and retirement, including uncertainty about Social Security and the rising cost of health care, in an interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Daniel Hood .

Many U.S. households are not adequately prepared for retirement, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve that found 31 percent of non-retired respondents indicating they have no retirement savings or pension, including 19 percent of those ages 55 to 64.

Withdrawals from individual retirement accounts tend to be driven largely by people who are 70-½ or more, according to new research.