IRAs: Building the Foundation
Welcome to the world of IRAs. In truth, these retirement accounts can be one of the most challenging products offered. It seems like there are so many rules to follow - and they constantly change. How can we keep up?

• What is the difference between an IRA Plan and an IRA Account?
• What forms are required to establish a legal IRA and which forms are supplemental?
• What are the benefits of a Traditional IRA and when can the contribution be deductible?
• Why would many people choose a Roth IRA over a Traditional IRA?
• Who can make contributions to a SEP IRA and how are they reported to the IRS?
• Why is it so important to use the correct transaction description for IRA activity?

IRAs: Rollovers and Transfers
So you think you know the difference between an IRA Rollover vs. IRA Transfer vs. QP Direct and Indirect Rollover? The “rollover” and “transfer” words are two of the most misused and abused terms in the IRA world. Not knowing the difference leads to misreporting to the IRS - which can result in unnecessary letters and bills to the customers.

• What are the rules of moving money from IRA to IRA as a “rollover?”
• Why are IRA transfers and Qualified Plan direct rollovers often confused?
• What kind of IRS reporting is generated on an IRA to IRA transfer?
• What is a “Rollover IRA” and how do we move it to another institution?
• What happens if the 60-day rule is not followed?
• How many tax-free IRA rollovers can a customer take advantage of in a 12-month period?

IRA Beneficiary Payout Options: The New Rules and When They Take Effect To Be Recorded in 2025
The Proposed Regulations released in February 2022 tried to clarify the original intention of the SECURE Act of 2020. After waiting in limbo for over two years, in July 2024 the IRS released the final regulations that take effect beginning in 2025. This webinar will cover the regulations and what you need to know.

• What is meant by the “Required Beginning Date” to determine which IRA owners are in RMD status at death?
• Do beneficiaries who chose to skip their RMDs in 2021-2024 have to make them up in 2025?
• How do we calculate the 2025 divisor for owners who died beginning in 2020?
• What are the three classes of beneficiaries to determine their payout options?
• What are the new distribution rules regarding a surviving spouse setting up an Inherited IRA?
• Do we use the owner’s age or the beneficiary’s age on the Single Life Table to obtain the divisor for RMD purposes?
• What are the rules for successor beneficiaries when the original owner died before 2020 or beginning in 2020?
• What penalties may be imposed if the beneficiary does not begin death distributions in 2025?
• What are the final regulations for payout options to a trust beneficiary?

IRAs: Successfully Auditing Your IRA Files
This is the job that everyone avoids - auditing the IRA files for necessary paperwork and getting rid of the “junk.” But what paperwork and documents are required to be in the file, and which can be thrown away? This two-hour webinar will answer these questions and many more.

• What are the legal requirements for documentation to be maintained in your IRA files?
• When opening a new IRA plan, what forms do we keep and which forms must be given to the customer?
• What happens when there is no beneficiary designation in the file or the beneficiary is deceased?
• What are the requirements for IRS reporting and disclosures to the customer?
• How far back can the institution go to file an IRS correction - if it’s the institution’s fault or if it’s the customer’s fault?
• What kind of partial IRA audits are the most crucial?
• How do we file paper corrections to the IRS?

IRA Annual Update 2025 To Be Recorded in 2025
Another crazy year brings many changes to the IRA Universe. After waiting 2 1/2 long years, the Proposed Regulations that were released in February 2022 were finalized in July 2024. These new rules and clarifications bring many changes to beneficiary payouts beginning in 2025 that you must know about.

• What are the Cost of Living Adjustments to IRAs for the 2025 tax year?
• What are the three categories of beneficiaries for payout options?
• Which beneficiaries must begin Single Life Death distributions beginning in 2025 and how do we calculate them?
• What are the changes to spouse beneficiary RMD calculations?
• What happens when a customer is in RMD and wishes to do an “IRA Rollover?”
• Which required notices must be sent to customers in January each year?
• What is a Roth SEP and a Roth SIMPLE and should we be offering them to our customer base?

IRA Reporting to the IRS - Getting it Right!
"It's ALL about the reporting" - I say hundreds of times a year when asked about policy and procedures on IRAs. Sometimes we fail to connect the frontline transactions to the end result, and therefore how it reports to the IRS. If we don't understand the transaction descriptions when we are coding an IRA transaction, there's a good chance it won't report correctly to the IRS - sometimes resulting in a letter and bill issued to the customer.

• The definition of a recipient on the 1099-R
• How transfers are reported to the IRS
• Getting more information on the definitions of IRS codes to be used on the 1099-R
• When to start reporting beneficiary payments in the beneficiary name and TIN
• How to correct a prior year contribution reported as a current year contribution on the 5498
• Use of the 5498 as our previous year's activity statement
• The difference between a repayment and a postponed contribution
• Which boxes are mandatory and which are optional on the 5498