Retirement Planning for Already Retired Couples

Download or read book Retirement Planning for Already Retired Couples written by James G Blase and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2023-03-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about retirement planning for already retired married couples. Are there tax and other strategies that the already retired couple can adopt, today, to position themselves, including the surviving spouse, in the best position possible to maximize and protect the after-tax benefits they receive from their retirement savings, including Social Security, over their lifetimes? One of the most important tax principles to recognize in this analysis is the fact that, except at the 37% tax bracket, each of the current progressive federal income tax brackets is now reached twice as quickly by a single individual than it is by a married couple. Thus, when it comes to retirement planning for already retired couples, there is a definite "single filer penalty" that must be considered in planning for a surviving spouse. If the interests of the couple's children are also to be considered, another important tax principle is the fact that, under the SECURE Act passed in late 2019, it is no longer possible to defer IRA and 401k fund balances over the lifetime of the couple's children after the couple passes. Instead, the balance in the couple's IRAs and 401k plan accounts must be paid out to the children over the 10 years after the couple passes, years in which the children are likely to be in their peak income tax brackets. Based upon the foregoing tax principles and considerations, logic would dictate that already retired married couples consider taking voluntary withdrawals from their IRAs and 401k plan accounts which are earlier and larger than what the law requires. The same logic would also dictate that, if the retired couple also owns significant highly appreciated taxable account assets, it will be worthwhile for them to consider taking steps, while they are married, to reduce potential capital gains taxes to the surviving spouse.