Saturday, August 20, 2016

Mega Backdoor Roth IRA : Contributing More $$ to a Roth IRA

The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA is a method to contribute more money to a Roth IRA beyond the $5500 per year. I was able to contribute 30K USD per year into a Roth IRA using this method.

It requires a compatible 401k plan. What is compatible?

1) Allows post-tax 401k contributions (NOT to be confused with Roth 401k contributions)
2) Allows in-service withdrawals

Requirement 2 is not strictly needed, but helps transfer the money into a Roth IRA sooner. Without requirement 2, a person would need to wait until after leaving a company to do the transfer.



Do many companies meet these requirements ?
Here's my list of companies known to have 401k plans that are compatible with the Mega Backdoor Roth IRA. Please add to the list in the comments!

Google
Cisco
Genentech
Mediatek
US Steel
Western Digital

Monday, August 15, 2016

Adding Beneficiaries on Bank Accounts

I recently started looking into adding beneficiaries on my bank accounts. In the event that I pass early, I would like my assets to be passed to my wife and kids. In California, by default everything will go through probate where lawyers get some of my hard earned money. By adding beneficiaries on an account we can avoid probate. They call this TOD (Transfer on Death) or POD (Payable on death).
This is my experience in California regarding Wells Fargo, Chase, and Bank of America.

Wells Fargo:
1) In branch, easily added my wife as a beneficiary to all my individually owned checking and savings accounts. SSN not required.
2) Unable to add beneficiary for brokerage, Roth IRA, and HSA in branch.
3) Any number of equal primary beneficiaries. No secondary beneficiary.

Chase:
1) In branch, easily added my wife to checking account. SSN not required.
2) One primary and one secondary beneficiary allowed.

Bank of America:
1) In branch, easily added my wife to checking account. SSN required.
2) Any number of equal primary beneficiaries.
3) Unable to add beneficiary for Merrill Edge brokerage in branch.