 |
Interactive Retirement Planner:
Review your retirement plan account to see
if you are on track to reach your
goals |
It's a great time of the year
to review your retirement plan account to see if you are on track to reach your
goals. The Nationwide® On Your Side Interactive Retirement Planner can help you do just
that. It's an innovative resource,
created for employees like you. If you
need to adjust your strategy, the planner can help with that, too!
Try out the Interactive Retirement Planner Tool now.
In just 10 minutes you can:
- Set a retirement
goal
- Track progress
- Get suggestions
to improve retirement outlook
- Model different
investment savings and retirement scenarios based on feedback from the planner
- Save a PDF file
of the information to share with others
How does it work?
The Interactive Retirement
Planner analyzes the information that is important to your overall retirement
outlook:
- Age and time
until retirement
- Estimated Social
Security payments
- Defined benefit
account (if applicable)
- Other retirement
assets such as IRAs or retirement plans from former jobs
Increase your contributions to the max
The Internal Revenue Service has
announced higher maximum contribution limits for defined contribution plans for
2012. This means you'll be able to
contribute more into your retirement plan accounts.
Beginning in January, you can
contribute as much as $17,000 per year to your retirement plan account. And if you are 50 or older, you could
contribute as much $22,500 with the age 50+ catch-up provision.
We know that for many people,
the maximum amount is not possible. But
consider increasing your contributions by just 1% of your salary this
year. A little can go a long way!
Uncle Sam gives tax incentives for retirement-plan
investing
The IRS can give you a tax
credit up to $1,000, or $2,000 if filing jointly, just for contributing to your
company's retirement plan. To receive a
credit, you must earn less than $28,250 per year or $56,500 if you file
jointly. It's called the Saver's Credit.
How do you become eligible?
- You must be at
least 18 years old and not claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return
- You cannot be a
full-time student
- When calculating
the credit, you must deduct the amount of any retirement plan or annuity
distributions you received in the current tax year and in the previous two tax
years from the contributions you have made
The individual's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) must not
exceed the following 2011 limits:
Filing status
|
Your income
|
Rate of credit
|
Tax credit for a $2,000
contribution*
|
|
$34,000
or less
|
50%
|
$1,000
|
Married Filing
|
$34,001
- $36,500
|
20%
|
$400
|
Jointly
|
$36,501
- $56,500
|
10%
|
$200
|
|
more
than $56,500
|
0%
|
$0
|
|
$25,500
or less
|
50%
|
$1,000
|
Head of
|
$25,501
- $27,375
|
20%
|
$400
|
Household
|
$27,375
- $42,375
|
10%
|
$200
|
|
more
than $42,375
|
0%
|
$0
|
|
$17,000
or less
|
50%
|
$1,000
|
Other Filers
|
$17,001
- $18,250
|
20%
|
$400
|
|
$18,251
- $28,250
|
10%
|
$200
|
|
more
than $28,250
|
0%
|
$0
|
*Married couples filing
jointly may apply up to $4,000 for a maximum $2,000 credit.
Here's an example of how it works:
Consider a married couple who
make $30,000 a year and contributed $3,000 toward a retirement account. They could get a tax credit of $1,500. (They make less than $34,000, making them
eligible to receive the full tax credit of 50% of their contribution. If they had contributed $4,000, they could
get a $2,000 tax credit.) If you're
eligible to claim a Saver's Credit on your 2011 federal income tax return,
consider how much more you may be able to contribute if you plan to claim the
credit on your tax return next year!
Nationwide
On
Your Side
 |
Hollis Lamon
Lamon & Stern
Atlanta, Georgia |
Contact Hollis Lamon of Lamon & Stern today for all your retirement planning needs! 770-951-8411
