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Welcome to this session of grand rounds, a collection of posts I have discovered in the blogosphere and have found of interest and hope you do too.

This offering of Grand Rounds looks at articles from around the web that deal with retirement/tax advantaged accounts.

 

 

The only thing I hate about HSA accounts is that my autocorrect always turns it into HAS.

Other than that minor annoyance, I am a firm believer that the HSA account trumps pretty much any other retirement vehicle out there.

If you play your cards right, you can contribute to the HSA with pre-tax money, allow it to grow tax free, and withdraw with no penalties or tax implications.

This is why some call this account a “triple tax advantaged” account and use it as a “stealth IRA”.

The Finance Twins expound on this amazing account in, “HSA Account- What You Need To Know About Health Savings Accounts.”

 

 

Because of IRS guidelines, the amount of money you can put in a retirement account is limited.

This makes every dollar earmarked for these accounts incredibly valuable.

It is essential to avoid any mistakes when funding an account so that you truly get the full financial impact of your wise decision years down the road.

Financial Samurai gives some great advice to help prevent common errors in, “Top 401k Mistakes That Hurt Your Retirement.”

 

 

How you take out money from a retirement account can be as, if not more, important than how it went in.

Ideally you want to deplete retirement accounts in the most tax efficient way as possible so more of that money goes into your pocket and not Uncle Sam’s.

Doctor Money Matters has a podcast that gives some pointers on how to do this in, “Retirement Withdrawal Strategies.”

 

 

 

One strategy individuals use is delaying drawing from their Social Security account.

Every year you delay Social Security (up until age 70) increases your annual benefit by 8%.

Although that sounds wonderful there are issues you need to be aware of that could make a delay a sound financial move or not.

FI Physician addresses this in, “Bridge To Social Security,”

 

 

 

Speaking of Social Security, there is a growing number of people who feel that it will not be around by the time they need it.

When doing my retirement calculations I actually have two scenarios, one with Social Security payments thrown in and one without.

I personally do feel Social Security will endure as it is far to powerful a social program for the government to just discard away.

But I also know that the way current benefits are structured will have likely changed drastically by the time I do partake in the system as I feel they are unsustainable as is.

White Coat Investor offers some hope on this topic in, “5 Reasons to Not Give Up On Social Security.”

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the reading material.

Have a great rest of the week.

 

 

Note:

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