Investing For Your Retirement with an IRA
IRAs can help you meet your retirement goals. Making a concerted effort to save for your retirement is critical in helping to ensure financial security for you and your family, and the IRA – an Individual Retirement Account or Arrangement – is one of the easiest, most convenient ways to start.
New England Financial offers many IRA strategies and products that can be used to fund your IRA. Here is an overview:
Traditional IRAs: A traditional IRA allows your retirement savings to grow tax deferred, meaning you won’t pay taxes on previously untaxed contributions and earnings until you withdraw your money. Anyone under age 70½ with earned income may contribute up to the allowable limit annually (or 100% of earned income, whichever is less) to a traditional IRA. The allowable contribution limit for 2007 is $4,000 and $5,000 for 2008. Individuals age 50 or over may make an additional allowable contribution of $1,000 per year (2007 contribution would be $5,000 and 2008 contributions would be $6,000).
For many investors, those contributions may also be tax deductible depending on the amount of the investor's income.
If a married couple files a joint tax return, each spouse may contribute up to the annual allowable limit.
Roth IRAs: If your traditional IRA contributions are not tax deductible, you might consider a Roth IRA contibution instead.
Since the Roth IRA was introduced in 1998, many investors have opened Roth IRAs or converted traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. With a Roth IRA, since your contributions are made with after-tax dollars, your assets can grow tax-free, meaning you’ll never have to pay federal income taxes on your earnings, provided certain requirements are met prior to receiving the distribution. Depending on your situation, tax-free growth could possibly result in a larger retirement nest egg than a comparable investment in a traditional IRA.
Learn more about Traditional and Roth IRAs.
Rollover Opportunities: If you plan to retire or change jobs in the near future, you may face a number of difficult decisions. Among the most important is, what to do with the money you’ve saved through your employer’s retirement plan and how this decision will impact your retirement strategy. As you prepare to make this decision, your next steps should include understanding the distribution options available to you, their tax implications, and how each could impact your savings and goals, both today and in the future.
Learn more about your rollover opportunities and why rolling over an IRA may be the right choice for you.
The Stretch IRA Strategy: You have worked hard your entire life to accumulate your assets, fulfill your retirement dreams and provide protection for your loved ones. As you move through your financial lifecycle, it is important to examine your current situation and plan accordingly for future events that could impact your retirement strategy, your IRA assets or your beneficiaries. The Stretch IRA strategy is a planning strategy that can help preserve your IRA and other tax-qualified assets for your beneficiaries. The Stretch IRA strategy focuses on passing IRA assets to your loved ones – when you don’t need these assets currently to meet your retirement income needs- by accessing only the minimum amounts required under the tax law.
Learn more about the Stretch IRA strategy.
Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. Federal Tax Advice contained in this document (including any links) is not intended to (and cannot) be used by anyone to avoid IRS penalties. It is intended to support the sale of retirement savings products. Our customers should seek advice based on their particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.
New England Financial, its agents, and representatives may not give legal or tax advice. Any discussion of taxes herein or related to this document is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be complete or cover every situation. Tax law is subject to interpretation and legislative change. Tax results and the appropriateness of any product for any specific taxpayer may vary depending on the facts and circumstances.
Securities products offered by New England Securities Corp., a broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC), a MetLife Company. 501 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116.
L12078896(exp1208)(All States) | 
