The winds of change blow through all areas of our lives. Our success and happiness depend on our ability to recognize and adapt to those inevitable changes. Since we don’t have 2020 foresight, we can’t know all the changes the new year will bring but here are a few you might be interested in.
Attached to the year-end spending bill that went into effect Jan. 1, 2020 is the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act).
Below is a summary of changes to be aware of:
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Limiting Stretch IRA’s - Instead of withdrawals from an inherited (non-spouse) IRA being stretched over the lifetime of the beneficiary, many will be required to take withdrawals within 10 years after the original account owner has passed away.
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Annuity allocations in 401(k)s - Rules surrounding liability concerns have been relaxed. This will allow plan sponsors to include more in-plan annuity options.
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No IRA Contribution age limit - Like 401(k)s and Roth IRAs, contributions made to an IRA can now be made by those working past the age of 70.5.
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RMDs at age 72 - Account holders who have not reached the age of 70.5 by the end of 2019 may now begin taking RMDs at the age of 72.
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Small employer retirement plans - rules have simplified the process to run multi-employer retirement plans with the goal of expanding retirement plan offerings. Increased tax incentives for plan sponsors can help offset the cost of operating a plan.
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Annual disclosure of lifetime income from defined contribution plans - How these will be calculated still needs fine-tuning, but this requirement will show plan participants how much income could be generated from their current lump-sum balance.
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Penalty-free distributions up to $5,000 from a qualified retirement account within a year of the birth or adoption of a child.
Here is an interesting and comical blog post from Tim Ferriss. You might like it if you ever have one of those days where it seems like every little thing goes wrong.
DECEMBER 18, 2019 BY TIM FERRISS
Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.
Not long ago, a creature died in the walls of my home. To be precise, it gave up the ghost in the heating system, so that death fumes were conveniently deposited directly into my bedroom.
My girlfriend and I discovered this around 11 p.m. as we tucked into bed. We could turn off the heat and freeze, or we could bathe in the stench of what I assumed was a raccoon carcass. The whole thing made my eyes itch. I imagined it downing a last meal—pig entrails? moldy socks? nattō?—before defiantly jamming its bloating body into my HVAC.
But the kamikaze raccoon was just the first surprise guest. The opening act.
In short order, my dog got horribly sick, overdue paperwork popped out of nowhere, and onboarding new contractors ran into trouble. Then I pulled out of a parking spot and scraped the entire side of the car next to me. Later that afternoon, Christmas presents I’d ordered online ran out of stock and were auto-canceled, sending me scrambling. More and more clowns kept piling into the clown car for a shit show that lasted 3–4 weeks.
There are rare times when I feel like I’m in the zone. Those are great.
Then there are times when I ask myself, “How in holy hell have I become the janitor of a mountain of bullshit?”
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