12: What Women Need to Know About IRA's, with Sarah Brenner

Today's guest is Sarah Brenner. Sarah is the Director of Retirement Education at Ed Slott and Company. She truly is an expert in IRAs—Individual Retirement Accounts—which for so many of us form the crux of our plan to save for retirement. But best – she knows how to explain the complicated stuff clearly. Listen in and learn the key things women need to know, especially after widowhood and divorce. We're talking best practices, long-term benefits, and common pitfalls regarding both traditional and Roth IRAs. Most of us think IRAs are pretty simple: you put money in and take money out. But in reality, the rules are very detailed and it's easy to mess up. And the problem with IRAs is that if you get it wrong, the penalties can be steep. Key Topics: An introduction to Sarah and her work (3:34) Why IRAs are an "overlooked tool" and "a great strategy for saving for retirement" (5:05) The next step once you understand the type of account you have (09:40) Traditional versus Roth IRA (14:03) Clearing misconceptions around Required Minimum Distributions (21:01) How does a beneficiary IRA work? (25:27) Differences between a "transfer" and a "rollover" (31:36) What you need to know regarding IRAs and divorce (33:31) A real-life case of an IRA-related mishap (38:16) You can reach follow Sarah and read her wisdom on IRAs at www.irahelp.com.   If you like what you've been hearing, we invite you to subscribe on your favorite platform and leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode! Or better yet, tell us what you want to hear more of in the future. [email protected] You can find the transcript and more information about this episode at www.takebackretirement.com.   Follow Stephanie on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Follow Kevin on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. =