Advanta IRA Trust – Real Estate IRAs

For Immediate Release – February 1st, 2012- AdvantaIRA Trust, LLC is excited to announce the expansion and opening of their newest office in the Miami area. AdvantaIRA specializes in Self Directed IRAs specifically real estate IRAs and private lending in IRAs. Advanta has been in business in Florida for over 9 years with offices in Fort Myers and Gainesville. The new South Florida office will be located at 950 South Pine Island Road,. AdvantaIRA prides itself on tremendous service and enthusiasm to help clients meet their financial goals. The new office will be led and managed by Kevin Collins, an experienced professional in the Alternative Asset Industry. The Miami phone number is 786-275-5870

For more information on AdvantaIRA Trust and the services they offer go to www.AdvantaTrust.com

There was an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal that detailed Presidental hopeful Mitt Romney’s IRA and what he owns in it.  Low and behold Mitt has a self-directed IRA.  Mitt holds several private and alternative investments.  Most notably in his portfolio is a Bain Capital shares or membership interest.

Mr. Romney has a excellent tax planning team that has layered his investments for liability protection and tax sheltering.  The article was correct on many key facts.  The article pointed out the IRAs that own businesses are subject to UBIT tax.  They were not sure if Mr. Romney was paying UBIT becasue of the offshore corporation that was set up for asset protection. I would assume he is not paying UBIT because that is the way the law does not require if if you own an offshore corporation. Read the rest of this entry »

How many times have you heard it said we live in the greatest country in the world?  We have running water in every building, store shelves are stuffed to the hilt, and pretty much the best health care in the world. We are not perfect, but we have it pretty good.

Today, we had one of the largest drops in stock market history. For retirees and soon to be retired, this is their worst nightmare.  The last five years have been a disaster that continues to have no resolution in sight. Who would have ever believed it would come to this?  I heard CNN blame Europe for much of our economic problems the last week, but our own house is a mess, and there is no leadership in sight from either party. Read the rest of this entry »

On many occasions, I have been contacted by a client who wants to purchase a future home with their IRA.   Many have the misconception that once they turn 59.5 years old, they can live in the home.   It is possible to purchase a home with your IRA and eventually live in that home, but it is not as simple as just reaching an age milestone.  

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The Pension Protection Act of 2006 permits individuals to distribute up to $100,000 directly from an IRA to a qualifying charity without having to recognize the taxable implications of the distribution.

-          Who is eligible for a QCD?

A qualified charitable distribution is eligible from any traditional IRA as long as the individual account owner is over the age of 70.5. This provision is time-limited, but has been extended through 2011 through the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010.

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IRA Contribution FAQs

Contribution limits change from year to year and it’s important to keep track of the rules whether you have an IRA or are looking to open one. We’ve provided a simple FAQ to help you understand and manage annual contributions to your IRA.

• What is an IRA contribution?
  An IRA contribution is the deposit of personal funds into your IRA. You can make contributions in the form of a check, wire, or ACH (direct deposit). The IRS limits the dollar amount that you can contribute to your IRA each year, and this amount varies based on the type of plan you have. Click Here for 2010 and 2011 Contribution Limits
• When are my contributions due?
  Contributions must be postmarked on or before April 15 to count towards the previous year’s taxes. However, this year contributions must be postmarked on or before April 18, 2011 due to Washington D.C.’s observance of Emancipation Day.
• Can I file for an extension?
  Tax-filing extensions do not apply to your IRA, which means that your contributions must be deposited on or before April 18th, 2011.

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     Over the years, there have been several times when a client has been in a perplexing dilemma regarding liquidity of their IRA owned asset and their IRA Required Minimum Distribution (RMD).   At age 70.5 (unless it is a Roth IRA), people are supposed to start pulling money out of their IRA and pay taxes on the distribution.   If they fail to take this RMD, which is based on the value of the account and the age of the IRA holder, there is a 50% penalty (of the RMD amount).  While RMD’s are based on the aggregate of all your IRA’s, regardless of how many custodians you have, the RMD can be taken from any (or all) of the custodians.  It does not need to come out proportionally from each custodian.  

  Read the rest of this entry »

In our changing economic times, it is more important than ever to focus on our retirement planning and financial futures.  For most of us, we have never seen the wild ride that the financial markets have shown us the last few years.  Just as we check our calories, blood pressure and weight on a regular basis, how are we doing with our finances?   It may be time for a routine check-up.

Studies have shown us the average American spends more time annually on vacation planning than on financial planning.  There was also a survey by Aetna claiming 31 percent of pre-retirees would rather clean their bathroom or pay bills than plan for retirement.  Allstate used to have an ad that claimed last year Americans spent 19 hours planning for their retirement. That’s about the same amount of time they spent planning their Thanksgiving dinner. 

So how do we get started and what are our choices today?  Unfortunately, retirement planning is not something the faint of heart can jump right into, but it can be done and with a little practice, it does get easier.  Here are some tips:

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In late 2010 I wrote an article regarding the expiring Federal Estate tax laws.  Several weeks later Congress finally passed into law an Act changing the Federal Estate tax laws once again. We had to wait almost to the very end of 2010 for Congress to make decision on the expiring Estate tax laws.  On December 17, 2010 Congress passed The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act.  This Act set new and unified estate tax, gift tax and generation skipping tax exemptions and rates.  Read the rest of this entry »

Press Release – February 15, 2011.  Dave Owens, CPA, CES is proud to announce his newest publication, TFS Briefs.  TFS Briefs focuses on current news and technical topics that will help investors save money by thinking outside the box in their investment approach, particularly in terms of retirement planning.  These Briefs will be used by individual investors as well as professionals, including accountants, attorneys, financial planners and realtors.  The first four Briefs have been posted online and cover the topics of Prohibited Transaction, Required Minimum Distributions, IRA Contributions 2011 and 1031 Exchanges.  To read the current TFS Briefs, please visit www.tfsBriefs.com. 

TFS Briefs is written to examine topics used by individuals interested in understanding and taking control of their financial situation, covering topics ranging from investing in real estate, retirement planning, and changes in tax law.  Going forward, TFS Briefs will be written monthly and disseminated to subscribers.   To subscribe to TFS Briefs, please visit www.tfsBriefs.com. 

Dave Owens, CPA, CES is Managing Member of Entrust Freedom, LLC and  can be reached at 239-333-1031 or owens11@entrustfreedom.com.