Chapter 16 - Questions (Retirement) Flashcards
What are qualified retirement plans?
Plans that are eligible for favorable tax treatment because it meets the requirements of the IRC 401a and the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
What advantageous tax treatment is allowed for qualified retirement plans?
Employers may deduct the annual allowable contribution they make for each plan participant.
Contributions and earnings on contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant.
In some cases, taxes may be deferred even longer through a rollover into an IRA.
What are nonqualified retirement plans?
Plans that do not meet the requirements of IRC 401(a) and ERISA, and do not qualify for favorable tax treatment.
What are nonqualified plans usually designed for?
Designed to meet specialized retirement needs of key executives and other select employees.
What are nonqualified plans exempt from?
The discriminatory and top-heavy testing to which qualified plans are subject.
What are the two kinds of qualified plans?
Defined benefit plan
Defined contribution plan
What is a defined benefit plan?
A plan where the employee receives a predetermined, formula-based benefit at retirement.
What is the most common known type of defined benefit plan?
A pension, where the retirement benefit is calculated by a formula based on number of years worked, age, and taxpayer’s history of earnings with employer.
What is an annuity?
A type of defined benefit plan that is a series of payments under a contract, made at regular intervals over a period of more than one year.
What is a defined contribution plan also known as?
A deferred compensation plan
What is a defined contribution plan?
A retirement plan in which the employee or employer makes pre-tax contributions into a retirement account, which grow tax-free until withdrawn.
What is the most commonly known type of defined contribution plan?
401(k)
What tax advantages does a 401(k) have?
Employee contributions are tax-deferred.
Earnings on the contributions are also tax-deferred until the taxpayer receives distributions.
How may an employer do a matching contribution?
They may make an additional contribution to the account on behalf of the employee.
They may offer a profit-sharing contribution to the plan.
What is a 403(b) plan?
A tax-advantaged retirement savings plan similar to a 401(k) but for public education, some nonprofit, and cooperative hospital service organizations.
Are 403(b) qualified plans?
Technically no. However, their main features are identical to qualified plans, so they are treated the same for our purposes.
What is a 457 plan?
Tax-advantaged, deferred-compensation retirement plans available to government employees.
Are 457 plans qualified plans?
No, but their primary features are identical and so they are treated the same for our purposes.
Are there contribution limits to deferred-compensation plans?
Yes, there is an annual maximum that is indexed for inflation.
What happens if a taxpayer contributes more than the allowed amount to a deferred-compensation plan?
They may be subject to penalties if the excess amount is not withdrawn for April 15 of the following tax year.
What benefit do taxpayers over the age of 50 have for deferred-compensation plans?
They are allowed an annual “catch up” contribution in addition to the maximum allowable contribution amount. For 2017 $18000 + $6000.
Where can a tax professional see contributions to a deferred compensation plan?
On the W-2 in box 12, coded to indicate.
What is an IRA?
An Individual Retirement Arrangement account is a personal savings plan that gives taxpayers tax advantages for saving moneyfor retrement.
What are two tax advantages of an IRA?
Money contributed may be fully or partially deductible.
Amounts in the IRA grow tax-free and are not taxed until withdrawn.