Chris’s Summary
Jim and I are joined by Jake Turner as we cover the Math Act and a set of shorter EDU topics Jim has been collecting. We start with an SSA-44 update, including listener and client feedback on submitting the IRMAA redetermination form online through an SSA.gov account. Jake explains how IRS “math error” notices work today, why they’re often vague, and what the new law requires for clearer explanations and response deadlines. Jim then walks through the Automatic IRA Act’s proposals, including an annuity-style “protected lifetime income solution” requirement over certain balances, and we close with a quick way to sanity-check MYGA rates using AnnuityRateWatch’s yield curve.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I are joined by Jake Turner as we bounce from Social Security admin housekeeping to Washington trying, yet again, to make the IRS act like it’s talking to actual humans—starting with the Math Act. If you’ve ever opened one of those IRS letters that basically says “you owe us money” without showing you how they got there, you already know why this matters. Jake lays out what those notices are really doing behind the scenes, why clients forward them to preparers in a panic, and what the new requirements are supposed to force the IRS to include so you can actually understand what they’re alleging and what happens if you don’t respond.

Then we pivot into the Automatic IRA Act, and I’ll be honest: I’m less interested in the political theater than I am in what it signals. There’s the small-business auto-enrollment concept—opt-out, no match requirement, and all that—and then there’s the part that made me laugh out loud when I saw who was cheering it on. Once you cross a certain 401(k) balance, the proposal would require employers to offer a “protected lifetime income solution,” which is just a polite way of saying “annuities are trying to get a bigger seat at the 401(k) table.” That opens up all the practical questions: what counts, who defines it, and how this intersects with the slow drift of defined contribution plans trying to behave a little more like pensions.

The post Math Act and Automatic IRA Act: EDU #2551 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Jim and Chris discuss listener emails starting with PSAs about IRMAA and Social Security spousal benefit applications, then questions on IRMAA, QLAC-related RMD rules, and a Roth conversion involving a fixed indexed annuity (FIA).

(9:30) Georgette shares a PSA explaining that she successfully filed Form SSA-44 preemptively—before receiving an IRMAA determination letter.

(21:15) A listener offers a PSA describing issues with an online Social Security spousal benefit application that was denied after being submitted separately from the working spouse’s application.

(29:45) The guys discuss how the Social Security Administration determines IRMAA when a tax return is delayed due to combat-zone service and whether a significant drop in income qualifies for Form SSA-44 relief.

(38:45) Jim and Chris address whether overestimating income on Form SSA-44 results in a refund, how survivor benefits are affected if claimed early, and whether post-retirement employer coverage is treated as active employee benefits for Medicare Part B and IRMAA purposes.

(50:45) George asks whether payments in excess of the RMD from a QLAC can be applied toward RMDs for other IRAs, or only toward the non-annuitized portion of the same IRA.

(1:00:20) A listener asks how the pro rata rule applies to a Roth conversion when assets include a fixed indexed annuity (FIA) with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit.

The post IRMAA, Social Security, QLACs, Roth Conversions: Q&A #2550 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Chris’s Summary
Jim and I discuss secure income as we review a Yahoo Finance article for middle-class retirees. We use it to highlight longevity considerations and the differences between guaranteed income approaches and traditional safe withdrawal rate or Monte Carlo methods. We also cover where spending-segmented planning and hybrid long-term-care annuities might fit in.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I discuss an article titled “How Middle-Class Retirees Can Make Their Money Last 25 Years or Longer” to get into the parts of retirement planning that actually matter when you may be retired for far longer than the industry tends to model. The article leaves out the realities of aging, the changing ability to manage complex finances, and the specific expenses that follow you for life, which lets me lay out why the Minimum Dignity Floor needs to be treated differently from everything else rather than blended into one big withdrawal strategy that assumes stability where none exists.

I talk through why I push back so hard on traditional safe withdrawal rate thinking, especially the notion that retirees should simply trim spending whenever markets dip. I know you’ve probably heard me say it before – that approach ignores the reality many retirees face by not addressing what people cannot reduce and overstating what they can. It also glosses over how income behaves differently depending on its source, why some streams ratchet upward while others swing unpredictably, and how risk pooling creates stability that a portfolio alone cannot. The gaps in the article also give room to dig into long-term care, including why certain tax-driven situations make hybrid LTC annuities funded by non-qualified contracts worth considering. And underlying all of this is the point that the goal is not to react to markets for decades on end—it is to build a structure that supports the life you want to live. That is where secure income becomes essential.

Show Notes:
Yahoo Finance Article

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