average, most people need about 70 to 80 percent of their annual preretirement income throughout retirement to maintain their standard of living. If you haven’t recently thought about what your retirement goals are, looked into what you can expect from Social Security (okay, cease the giggling), or calculated how much you should be saving for retirement, now’s the time to do it. My book Personal Finance For Dummies (Wiley) goes through all the necessary details and explains how to come up with more money to invest.
When you earn employment income (or receive alimony), you have the option of putting money away in a retirement account that compounds without taxation until you withdraw the money. With many retirement accounts, you can elect to use mutual funds as your retirement account investment option. And if you have retirement money in some other investment option, you may be able to transfer it into a fund company (see Chapter 16).
401(k) plans
For-profit companies typically offer 401(k) plans, which typically allow you to save up to $20,500 per year (tax year 2022), $27,000 for those 50 and older. Your contributions to a 401(k) are excluded from your reported income and are free from federal and state income taxes but not from FICA (Social Security) taxes.
Smaller companies (those with fewer than 100 employees) can consider offering 401(k) plans, too. In the past, administering a 401(k) was prohibitively expensive for smaller companies. If your company is interested in this option, contact a mutual fund organization, such as T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, or Fidelity, or a discount brokerage house, such as Charles Schwab or Sharebuilder.
403(b) plans
Many nonprofit organizations offer 403(b) plans to their employees. As with a 401(k), your contributions are federal- and state-tax-deductible. The 403(b) plans often are referred to as tax-sheltered annuities, the name for insurance-company investments that satisfy the requirements for 403(b) plans. No-load (commission-free) mutual funds can be used in 403(b) plans. Check which mutual fund companies your employer offers you to invest through — I hope you have access to the better ones covered in Chapter 9.
Employees of nonprofit organizations generally are allowed to contribute up to 20 percent or $20,500 of their salaries ($27,000 for those individuals 50 and older) — whichever is less. Employees who have 15 or more years of service may be allowed to contribute more. Ask your employee benefits department or the investment provider for the 403(b) plan (or your tax advisor) about eligibility requirements and details about your personal contribution limits.
Small business plans
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Anyone with employment (or alimony) income can contribute to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). You may contribute up to $6,000 each year ($7,000 if you’re age 50 and older) or the amount of your employment or alimony income if it’s less than these amounts in a year. If you’re a nonworking spouse, you may be eligible to contribute into a spousal IRA.
Your contributions to an IRA may be tax-deductible. For the tax year 2022, check out these eligibilities:
If you’re single and your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $78,000 or less for the year, you can deduct your IRA contribution.
If you’re married and file your taxes jointly, you’re entitled to a full IRA deduction if your AGI is $129,000 per year or less.
If you make more than these amounts, you can still take a full IRA deduction if you aren’t an active participant in any retirement plan. To know for certain whether you’re an active participant, look at the W-2 form that your employer sends you early in the year to file with your tax returns. Little boxes indicate whether you’re an active participant in a pension or deferred-compensation plan. If either box is checked, you’re an active participant.
If you’re single taxpayer with an AGI above $68,000 but below $78,000, or part of a couple with an AGI above $109,000 but below $129,000, you’re eligible for a partial IRA deduction, even if you’re an active participant. The size of the IRA deduction you may claim depends on where you fall in the income range. For example, a single-income earner at $73,000 is entitled to half of the full IRA deduction (assuming they are under age 50) because their income falls halfway between $68,000 and $78,000. (Note: These thresholds are for tax year 2022. They’ll increase in the tax years ahead.)
If you yourself are not an active participant in a retirement plan but your spouse is an active participant, then you may take a full IRA deduction if your AGI is $204,000 or less. A partial deduction is allowed in this case if your AGI is between $204,000 to $214,000.
