Tag Archive for: Earned Income

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CARES Act Payment and IRA Contributions

“My client wants to know the following:  ‘Can I use my $1,200 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act payment to make an IRA contribution? My other income comes from Social Security, pension payments and interest income payments.’”

ERISA consultants at the Retirement Learning Center (RLC) Resource Desk regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs, qualified retirement plans and other types of retirement savings and income plans, including nonqualified plans, stock options, and Social Security and Medicare.  We bring Case of the Week to you to highlight the most relevant topics affecting your business.

A recent call with a financial advisor from Nevada is representative of a common inquiry related to IRA contributions.

Highlights of the Discussion

Unfortunately, no, the CARES Act payments are actually “Recovery Rebates” or “credit against taxes,” according to Section 2201 of the CARES Act and, therefore, would not be considered earned income for IRA contribution purposes [see Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)].  An individual must have wages or self-employment income to make an IRA contribution. Wages and self-employment income are commonly referred to as earned income.  Social Security, pension and interest income are not considered earned income for IRA contribution purposes, either.

The CARES Act payments are an early credit on a tax filer’s 2020 tax liability. The IRS will use the tax filer’s 2018 tax return to determine benefits, unless the individual or couple has already filed their 2019 Federal tax return. Individuals who are not dependents may receive up to $1,200 (i.e., single filers and heads of households); joint filers can receive up to $2,400; and there is an additional rebate of $500 per qualifying child, if they have adjusted gross income (AGI) under $75,000 (single), $150,000 (joint), or $112,500 (heads of household) using 2019 tax return information. The rebate phases out by $50 for every $1,000 of income earned above those thresholds.

If your client had some self-employment or even part-time wage income from actual service performed, then an IRA contribution based on such income would be feasible.

Conclusion

What can and cannot be used as eligible earned income to support an IRA contribution can be confusing. While CARES Act Recovery Rebates are welcome relief, they are not considered income for IRA contribution purposes.

© Copyright 2023 Retirement Learning Center, all rights reserved
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Deferral election timing for the self employed

“Several of my clients are self-employed and have 401(k) plans. What is the date by which a self-employed individual must make his or her salary deferral election?”

ERISA consultants at the Retirement Learning Center Resource Desk regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs, qualified retirement plans and other types of retirement savings and income plans, including nonqualified plans, stock options, and Social Security and Medicare. We bring Case of the Week to you to highlight the most relevant topics affecting your business.

A recent call with a financial advisor from Nevada is representative of a common inquiry related to 401(k) plan salary deferral elections.

Highlights of the Discussion

Special rules regarding salary deferral elections apply to self-employed individuals (e.g., sole proprietors or partners). They must make their cash or deferred elections no later than the last day of their tax year (e.g., by December 31, 2018, for a 2018 calendar tax year). The timing is connected to when the individual’s compensation is “deemed currently available” [see Treasury Regulation Section (Treas. Reg. §) 1.401(k)-1(a)(6)(iii)].

Often a self-employed individual’s actual compensation for the year is not determined until he or she completes his or her tax return, which, in most cases, is after the end of the partnership or individual’s taxable year. However, the IRS deems a partner’s compensation to be currently available on the last day of the partnership taxable year and a sole proprietor’s compensation to be currently available on the last day of the individual’s taxable year. Therefore, a self-employed individual must make a written election to defer compensation by the last day of the taxable year associated with the partnership or sole proprietorship.

EXAMPLE

A partner can make a cash or deferred election for a year’s compensation any time before (but not after) the last day of the year, even though the partner takes draws against his/her expected share of partnership income throughout the year.

There are also special rules that address when salary deferrals for self-employed individuals are treated as made to the plan (versus when they may actually be made). Treas. Reg. §1.401(k)-2(a)(4)(ii) states that an elective contribution made on behalf of a partner or sole proprietor is treated as allocated to the individual’s plan account as of the last day of the partnership or sole proprietorship’s taxable year.

With respect to the DOL’s deferral deposit deadline, deferrals for self-employed individuals must be deposited as soon as they can be reasonably segregated from the business’s general assets. The DOL’s safe harbor for plans with fewer than 100 employees also applies. Therefore, as long as the deferrals are transmitted within seven business days after the amounts are separated from the business’s assets, the contributions are deemed timely made.

From the IRS’ tax perspective, in no event can the deferrals be deposited after the deadline for filing the business’s tax return, plus extensions.

Conclusion

With respect to making a salary deferral election, a self-employed individual must do so no later than the last day of his or her tax year. The election should be documented in writing for proof in the event the plan later undergoes an audit. Therefore, those self-employed individuals following a calendar tax year must be sure to execute their written deferral elections by December 31, 2018!

© Copyright 2023 Retirement Learning Center, all rights reserved
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The Golden Age of Pensions: Another Fairy Tale

By W. Andrew Larson, CPC

Retirement Learning Center

 

Independent thought leadership—it’s not just a lame tagline to us.  At the Retirement Learning Center, we believe thought leadership must go beyond simply parroting the common media narrative. That’s why in this and future blog posts, as well as elsewhere, we strive to rise above the inane chatter to explore and challenge the real retirement-related issues and trends facing consumers and the industry in general.

“We are in a retirement crisis!” “401(k) plans have failed!” Media outlets frequently chant both of these mantras. Often underlying these assertions is the subtext that we need to return to the good old, defined benefit pension plan days when retirees lived happily ever after, supported by their generous pension checks.  Images of contented pensioners enjoying their golden years with golf, gardening, shuffleboard and an occasional game of bingo may warm the heart—but are not accurate.

Sadly, this vision of a blissful, pension-supported retirement world is—for the most part—a fantasy. Very few, lucky individuals actually experienced the good old pension days. It’s time to face reality and dispel some long-held myths associated with defined benefit plans so that we can get on to real-world solutions.  

Myth #1. Once upon a time most people retired with a pension.

  • Reality check: As with many myths, this one contains a grain of truth. Until the late 1970s, a larger percentage of the workforce was, in fact, participating in defined benefit plans over other types of retirement savings arrangements. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, the high-water mark of defined benefit plan coverage in the private sector probably occurred in 1980 when nearly 35 million workers were covered by defined benefit pension plans. This represented 46 percent of the private sector workforce. Since that time the overall pension coverage rate has declined. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports fewer than 18 percent of private sector workers are currently covered by pension plans.
  • The important take away is the misleading nature of the pension coverage statistic. Pension coverage does not necessarily equate to ultimately receiving a pension benefit. Many workers may have been covered by pensions in the past, but few ever received a benefit.

Why?

One simple answer is the pension rules were different back in the 70s and 80s than they are today.  Let me illustrate with a personal example.

In the 1970s, I worked at a grocery store stocking shelves and carrying out groceries. Despite the part-time status of the job I participated in the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Pension Plan. I was one of the 46 percent of workers covered by a pension plan. However, after I left employment at the store I received no pension benefit. I didn’t work there long enough and had to leave my benefit behind. My former employer used this “left behind” amount to help pay for benefits of participants with 30 years of service. These amounts became what are now called forfeitures.

Under the old defined benefit plan rules, in some cases, eligibility to receive a benefit required 30 years of service and employment with the plan sponsor through the retirement age of 65. Workers leaving before retirement usually got nothing, and their accruals were used to fund benefits for those who retired and earned a benefit. In fact, only about 10 percent of the covered workers ever stayed long enough to receive a benefit. If you made it to age 65, and had enough service—congratulations—you got a monthly check!

The forfeitures helped control plan costs by reducing the size of employer contributions. So, while fewer people received benefits in the old days, the dollars left behind helped keep plans more affordable for employers. As a result of modern-day vesting and accrual rules, many more employees who separate early—even before retirement age—still receive at least some benefit.  Consequently, with fewer forfeitures today plan sponsors need to increase their contributions. Do you see the trade off? Under the modern rules, because less money is left behind, the plan is more expensive for the plan sponsor (and less appealing). There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Myth #2. Pension benefits were generous back in the good old days.

Actually, benefits were quite modest. According to study by Walter Kolodrubetz, published in the Social Security Journal, the average pension benefit was about $137 a month up until 1970. The Pension Rights Center’s research indicates the current monthly benefit today is approximately $781 a month.

Adding insult to injury, most pre-1970s retirees lost half their purchasing power during the inflationary surge of the 70s and early 80s. As an example, a retiree with a $1,000 monthly pension check in 1970, by the early 80s had about $160 of inflation-adjusted buying power. In other words, during this period, inflation eroded about 86 percent of retirees’ buying power.

This brings us back to reality. There never really was a golden age for pension plans.  And, today, defined benefit plans are becoming too expensive for employers to continue. Pensions are not coming back. So, what should be done?

First of all, we need to challenge proponents of the “let’s bring back pensions” notion. Demographics and economics make that idea a nonstarter.

Next, we should propose and advocate modern 401(k)/IRA enticements, designs and products to enhance retirement readiness, such as

  • Automatic enrollment,
  • Automatic escalation,
  • Automatic investment,
  • Lifetime income options,
  • Availability of saver’s credits,
  • Expansion of multiple employer plans (MEPs), and
  • Incorporating HSAs into retirement planning.

So let’s focus on developing strategies and policies that fit in the real world.

© Copyright 2023 Retirement Learning Center, all rights reserved
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Plan Participation and IRA Contributions

 Plan Participation and IRA Contributions

“A client of mine who participates in a 401(k) plan at work was told by his tax preparer that he cannot make an IRA contribution.  Is that correct?”

ERISA consultants at the Retirement Learning Center Resource Desk regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs and qualified retirement plans. We bring Case of the Week to you to highlight the most relevant topics affecting your business.

  • If your client is under age 70 ½ and has earned income for the year of contribution, he is eligible to make a traditional IRA contribution, provided he does so by the contribution deadline.  But because he participates in a 401(k) plan, the contribution may not be fully tax deductible.
  • Deductibility of a traditional IRA contribution depends on whether the individual (or his or her spouse) is an active participant in an employer-sponsored plan, tax filing status and the amount of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for the year (IRC Sec. 219(g).

Deductibility of a 2016 traditional IRA contribution when the individual (or spouse) is covered by a workplace retirement plan

IF your filing
status is …
AND your modified adjusted gross income (modified AGI)
is …
THEN you can take …
single or
head of household
$61,000 or less a full deduction.
more than $61,000
but less than $71,000*
a partial deduction.
$71,000 or more no deduction.
married filing jointly or
qualifying widow(er)
$98,000 or less a full deduction.
more than $98,000
but less than $118,000**
a partial deduction.
$118,000 or more no deduction.
married filing separately2 less than $10,000 a partial deduction.
$10,000 or more no deduction.
Not covered by a plan, but married filing jointly with a spouse who is covered by a plan  $184,000 or less a full deduction.
more than $184,000
but less than $194,000***
a partial deduction.
Source:  IRS 2016 IRA Contribution and Deduction Limits $194,000 or more no deduction.

*$62,000-$72,000 for 2017; **$99,000-$119,000 for 2017; and ***$186,000-$196,000 for 2017

 

Conclusion

If a person meets the age and income requirements for a year, he or she is eligible to make a traditional IRA contribution by the deadline.  But the tax deductibility of the contribution will be affected by participation in a workplace retirement plan, tax filing status and MAGI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Copyright 2023 Retirement Learning Center, all rights reserved