401k

  • Investing

    A late Christmas gift from Uncle Sam! Higher IRA and 401k contribution limits for 2019

    With all of the hubbub around the holiday season you probably missed a nice gift you received from Uncle Sam. And, like the forgetful uncle that he is, he forgot to give it to you until January, but as they say, it’s the thought that counts.

    So, what present am I talking about? Why, the $500 increase in IRA and 401k contribution limits of course!

    Contribution Limits for 2019

    For 2019 the maximum you can contribute to an IRA has increased to $6,000, up from $5,500 last year ($7,000 for individuals 50 or older). And for a 401k the maximum employer contribution increased to $19,000 up from $18,500 (this also applies to 403b, most 457 plans and the governments Thrift Savings Plan). Individuals 50 or older contributing to these plans (401k, 403b, 457, TSP) can still contribute an additional $6,000.

    What also increased were the income limits for the phaseout of when you can and can’t contribute to IRAs and Roths. You can find the full rundown of the changes on the IRS’s website here: IRA increases contribution limits for 2019.

    But don’t forget about 2018

    You also still have the option to contribute to your IRA or Roth for 2018. You can contribute right up to April 15. So, if you haven’t yet contributed this year you still have time to sock away up to $5,500 ($6,500 if your 50 or older) into your IRA and count it against 2018’s taxes.

    If your income is above the Roth contribution limits, you are unfortunately too late to enact a backdoor Roth contribution for 2018 since you had to complete those by Dec 31 2018. Maybe a financial planner could have helped make sure your financial tasks were completed on time wink, wink?

    What is the impact of that extra $500?

    You may yawn and think, “big whoop, an extra $500, what will that get me?” Well I’m glad you asked. Even though it might not seem like much, given it’s only an extra $41.67 a month. Depending on your investing time frame that $500 could add up to a serious bump in your portfolio over time.

    If We assume 7% growth within a tax advantaged account, after 10 years you would have an additional $6973. After 20 years it would be $20,624 and after 30 that would grow to $47,479. All from contributing just an extra $500 a year.

    Upping your contribution

    Now is the perfect time to increase your contribution for 2019 or make one for 2018. If you’re a W-2 employee you should receive your copy in the mail any day now.  By comparing your earned income in box 1 of your W-2 to the income limits at the link mentioned above you can figure out if you qualify to contribute to an IRA, Roth, or both. And if you plan to earn the same amount for 2019 this will help you decide where to contribute for the coming year as well.

    Another decision to make is when to make your 2019 contributions: in one $6,000 chunk or by dollar cost averaging with an automatic monthly contribution.

    The upside with automatic monthly investments is that you don’t have the worry about contributing $6,000 in one chunk then watching the market drop the next day. The downside is if the market decides to move steadily upward throughout the year, the impact of your monthly contribution is reduced each month.

    Historically the stock market finishes the year higher than where it started about ¾ of the time. Given this info you are likely better off making the lump sum contribution at the start of the year. But if it helps you to sleep at night by making the monthly contributions then go that route. We humans tend to feel the pain of loss much more acutely than the joy from a gain.If you are in Boise or beyond and would like to talk with a fee-only advisor about your IRA or 401k funding questions, or anything other questions you might have, give us a call. We are happy to help.

  • 401k, Investing

    MILLENNIALS HAVE HOW MUCH IN THEIR 401(K)?!

    A recent article in Investor’s Business Daily got a lot of attention online. The subject of the article was how much the average 401(k) balance has increased over the past 10 years split out by generations. Millennials had an average balance of $137k in 2019 up from $10,500 in 2009. While Boomers had an average of $366k up from $98k 10 years ago.

    It seemed that most people responding to the article on social media had a similar reaction along the lines of, “that’s crazy, there’s no way that’s true”. And turns out they were mostly right. The data was taken from a fidelity survey of their 401k plan participants, but what wasn’t stated in the article was that these numbers only considered those individuals that had their same 401k account open for the past 10 years. Once you hear this detail the numbers start to make a bit more sense.

    The majority of millennials are still in the early stage of their careers which is typically a time where people take the opportunity to jump around between jobs, companies, and different places to live and see what fits them best. This is especially true for this generation as we have pushed marriage and home buying later either because of preferences, opportunities or both. It makes sense that those that have had a stable job with the same 401k for the past 10 years would have a much higher balance than the overall average. It’s probably a pretty limited set of the millennial cohort included in this data set, but I think there are a few points we can take away from this info, even if the article seems to have been constructed in a way to get people worked up and share it purely from a “would you look at this *#$&?!” angle.

    Just stick with it

    The accounts included in this group have been open for at least 10 years, which illustrates the amazing effect you can have by continuing to do the little things right month after month and compound them over time. Continuing to contribute to your 401k plan, paycheck after paycheck, is a great first step towards building up your retirement savings. Especially given the benefits that a 401k typically provides vs an IRA: employer matching, higher contribution limits, additional after-tax contributions if available.  

    It can be tempting when moving from one job to another to cash out your 401k rather than roll it over into a new 401k or IRA. There are a few times where cashing it out makes sense from a financial planning perspective, such as in the case of extreme hardships, but it’s typically a much better option to roll it into another plan and continue making your contributions and grow your funds for the future.

    The benefits of having a 401k 

    If your employer didn’t offer a 401k and you only had access to investing within an IRA (with contribution limits below $7k/year for the past decade) you would be hard pressed to grow your account in the same way without maxing out your IRA contribution every year over the past 10. However, with a 401k you could contribute up to $16,500 yourself and $49k total between you and your employer in 2009, and those numbers increased over the decade to $19,000 and $56k respectively. It’s obvious with a 401k that you could contribute much more, especially as your income grows, than with only an IRA, not to mention the benefits of receiving employer match contributions.

    If you don’t have access to a 401k consider asking your employer to offer one. Many small businesses do not offer a 401k because of concerns about cost and matching contributions, but in recent years 401k plan administration costs for small businesses have decreased and companies do not need to offer a full or even any match if they don’t want to. 401k plans have been shown to be great for retention of employees and I’m sure the individuals in the fidelity study are glad that they had the opportunity to invest in theirs over the past decade.

    What else can you do

    So, what can you do if you don’t have a 401k and it doesn’t look like you will get access to one anytime soon?

    • If you are a 1099 employee consider setting up a SEP-IRA. With a SEP you can contribute up to 25% of your earnings or $57k, whichever is lower, for 2020. This can be a way to goose your contribution above the traditional IRA limit of $6k. If you are not a 1099 employee but are considering it make sure to consult with a tax professional whether or not it makes sense to switch from a W-2 to self-employed because there are additional tax consequences to consider.
    • If you can, contribute to an HSA. Stack that on top of your IRA adds an additional $3,550 ($7,100 if you are married) that you can contribute to tax advantaged accounts. HSAs are also one of my favorite stealth retirement accounts because they are triple tax efficient if used correctly. You can contribute tax-free, the funds grow tax-free inside the account, and the funds can be withdrawn tax-free if used for qualifying medical expenses.

    So, there are steps you can take if your 401k or other retirement savings accounts aren’t at the level of those in the article, or otherwise where you’d like them to be. And if you’d like someone to help you put together a plan to boost your 401k or IRA contributions consider reaching out to a fee-only financial planner today.

  • Investing

    IS THE HSA THE BEST RETIREMENT ACCOUNT?

    As we head into the last quarter of the year, many of us are coming up on the time to re-enroll in our employer benefit programs. This leads nicely into a discussion of one of the best retirement accounts available. A secret retirement account, that wasn’t designed as for retirement savings in the first place. The Health Savings Account.

    Where did the HSA come from?

    The Health Savings Account (HSA) was created in 2003 as a way to help those with high deductible health insurance plans save for future healthcare costs. These plans were created for people that didn’t expect to need as much health insurance throughout the year. The health insurance company offers a less expensive plan, but the catch, is there is a higher deductible if you do get sick and need to get healthcare. The HSA is an account for someone with this type of plan to save money to use for future healthcare expenses in a tax-advantaged account.

    Retirement accounts are designed to save you on taxes, but you do have to pay them at some point. With a traditional IRA or 401(k) you get to contribute pre-tax dollars, but the withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income in retirement. With a Roth IRA or 401(k) the reverse is true, you pay taxes now and can withdraw the funds tax-free in retirement. So why is the HSA one of the best retirement accounts available?

    The beauty of the HSA is that you get to deposit pre-tax dollars into your account and as long as you have qualifying medical expenses, you can withdraw your money tax-free. This is the only account where you can both contribute and withdraw tax-free. 

    HSA basics

    • 2018 Individual Contribution limit: $3,450
    • 2018 Family Contribution limit: $6,900
    • Contributions are made with pre-tax money, and can be made by you and your employer.
    • Contribution limits apply to the money contributed by you and your employer.
    • You can open an HSA if you have a high deductible plan at any time in the year.
    • If you switch to a high deductible plan during the year, you get a prorated contribution limit. So, if you’re single and switched to a high deductible plan in September, and have it through the end of the year, your contribution limit would be $1,150 (4/12 x $3,450).
    • Money can be withdrawn tax free when used for qualifying medical expenses.
    • After the age of 59 ½ money can be withdrawn for any purpose and is taxed at ordinary income tax rates; essentially the HSA can function the same as a traditional IRA.

    How to use an HSA as a retirement account

    If the HSA was created for healthcare expenses how do you use it as a retirement account? The key lies in a little bit of planning ahead. With an HSA you are allowed to withdraw money from the account to pay for qualifying healthcare expenses. You can withdraw the money any time after the expense occurs and you don’t have to withdraw it in the same calendar year or within a period of time after the expense occurs.

    You can allow the money in your HSA to grow by paying for healthcare expenses with after-tax dollars today, and reimbursing yourself from the HSA in the future.

    By paying out of pocket, you allow your HSA contributions to continue to grow tax-free until you withdraw them. That could be another 30-40 years of tax free growth! 

    Example

    Let’s say I have a high deductible health plan for my family. That means I can contribute $6,900 into an HSA for the year. I estimate that my healthcare expenses that aren’t covered by insurance are around $500 per year. I can pay those costs with after-tax dollars and keep that $500 in my HSA to keep growing tax free. I just have to keep track of my healthcare expense receipts to withdraw the money at a later date.

    If you happen to lead an exceptionally healthy life and don’t need to spend much on medical expenses, your HSA turns into a quasi-IRA after you turn 59 ½. You can withdraw your money tax-free for healthcare expenses as before, or you can withdraw it and pay income tax as you would with a traditional IRA. 

    Your HSA always belongs to you, not your employer. Even if you decide to switch away from a high deductible plan, you can still use your HSA for medical expenses and the money you contributed can continue to grow.

    Don’t forget!

    There are a few things to keep in mind when researching your HSA. More employers are starting to contribute to employee HSA’s so take that into consideration when deciding whether and how much to contribute. Most HSA’s require you have a certain balance in the account before you can allocate funds to investments. The amount varies, but is typically around $1,000.  Some HSA providers don’t offer the option of investing in low-cost index or mutual funds, so do your research on the available investments before opening an account. The fees vary between HSA’s and some employers will cover the cost. If you leave an employer or they decide to switch to a new HSA provider be sure to check on the fees, it may make sense to open an account with another provider.

    What do you think? Is the HSA is the best retirement account available?