Friday 11 April 2014

How To Manage Your 401K Investments For Retirement

Posted by Unknown at 13:17
By Anita Ortega


Saving for retirement is very important. Many people are afraid of being in a vulnerable position where they are old and can no longer work, without enough money to live on. To avoid this situation, financial planners recommend that you start saving and investing for your golden years as soon as possible. Many people use 401k investments to reach their retirement goals.

Contributions for the plan are deducted from the paycheck of the employee before taxation. This means that the funds are tax-deferred until they are withdrawn during retirement. The amount that you may contribute to a plan annually is limited to a certain maximum pre-tax amount. Currently, the maximum is $17,500 as of 2013. These types of plans became popular when employers started to move away from the traditional defined benefit pension plans. Other alternative contribution pension plans include the 403(b) and the 401(a) plans, which offer higher annual limits than the 401(k).

Employees do not pay federal taxes on their current income which is being deferred into the pension account. So if a worker earns $60,000 in a given year and defers $5,000 into their pension account, then for that year their income will only be recognized as $55,000 for their tax return. However, the employee must pay taxes on the money if they withdraw the funds during retirement. Any gains they receive on the pension funds are then considered as ordinary income.

Almost all employers impose restrictions on employees for withdrawing contributions from the plan while a person is still working with the company and they are less than 59 years old. Any withdrawals that are permitted before this time are subject to excise taxes amounting to ten percent of the amount withdrawn. This includes any withdrawals made to pay for expenses due to financial hardship, so it is important to keep this in mind before you make early withdrawals.

It is very risky to make major changes to your pension plan in order to profit from a particular market trend or hot stock. This type of investing, sometimes known as timing the market, can be risky. Many experts suggest that you avoid it altogether.

It is important to remember that, when you are investing, the markets rise and fall from time to time. Many advisers suggest that you continue to remain invested, and keep making contributions, in order to gain greater benefits in the long term.

Sometimes, if a person has started saving late for retirement, they may want to catch up to reach the level they should be at. There was a law passed in 2006 that allows workers who are over the age of 50 to increase the amount of their contributions to their 401(k) plans.

To close an account, the participant must either roll-over the funds to another plan or take a cash distribution. Most people with balances under $1,000 tend to cash out. Rolling over the funds to another eligible retirement plan is not taxed.




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