There have been a few changes made this year to IRAs. The one that will probably affect the most people is the contribution limit. It went up $1000 for 2008 for all ages. See below…
| Year | Under Age 50 | Over Age 50 |
| 2002-2004 | $3,000/year | $3,500/year |
| 2005 | $4,000/year | $4,500/year |
| 2006-2007 | $4,000/year | $5,000/year |
| 2008 | $5,000/year | $6,000/year |
From here on out the contribution limits will be adjusted for inflation.
Another nice change to be aware of is that:
You can now roll assets directly from a 401(k) to a Roth IRA. Previously you had to jump through a few hoops by first rolling the funds into a traditional IRA and then converting them to a Roth from there. You still won’t avoid paying the taxes during conversion, but it will make the process easier.
and here are a few interesting articles I read this week…
Some Surprises in Consumer Reports’ Top 10 Cars for 2008
The one site you must visit before buying anything online
How Much Will That 401(k) Loan Cost You?
Is Term Life Insurance Right For Me?
What to do with old Whole Life policies
Six Ways to Break Free of the “Purge and Splurge” Cycle
The 3 Things That Will Make You Better Than 99% of Investors
My Financial Epiphany – The storm of my life
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the link!
I’m glad you found my post on old Whole Life policies interesting. Thanks for sharing it with your readers.
Thank you for the shout out. It will be tough to max out everything this year: $15,500 for 401k, $10,000 for 2 IRAs, and $5,000 for a 529. Yikes!
Bob,
Another change in 2006 was the solok allowing you to put up to $44K per year if you are self employed.
see pensco link http://www.penscotrust.com/account/solok.asp#what_is
chris
Thanks for including me!