In most cases, if you withdraw your money from an IRA before you turn 59½ years old, you'll face a hefty 10% penalty

Learn how to withdraw $1K from your IRA

Normally, you face a large penalty if you take money out of your IRA before age 59½. Now the IRS is letting individuals withdraw up to $1K without facing the 10% fee (with the exception of Roth IRAs) for emergencies.

529 plans have some withdrawal penalties

The IRS imposes a 10% penalty on non-qualified withdrawals from 529 college savings plans, which hold funds for education-related expenses. However, there are exceptions to the rule, including if the beneficiary dies or becomes disabled. There's also an exception for beneficiaries that receive tax-free scholarships or attend military academies.

529 savers can now roll funds into a Roth IRA

One of the key disadvantages of a 529 college savings plan is the possibility a beneficiary doesn’t end up going to college. Nonqualified withdrawals are subject to a 10% penalty. However, as of 2024, the SECURE Act 2.0 started allowing 529 savers to roll over $35K into a Roth IRA.

Traditional IRAs are tax-deferred—meaning you’ll pay taxes when you withdraw funds during retirement, rather than before you invest in the IRA

You can typically deduct traditional IRA contributions from your taxes. To invest in a Roth IRA, on the other hand, you must contribute money that has already been taxed.

7 things to know about inherited IRA rules

An inherited IRA is any kind of IRA or 401K plan you inherited from someone after they’ve died. Since there are different tax advantages for each type of retirement account, the rules you have to follow widely differ based on the account, your relationship to the deceased, and how you want to use the money. Here are the seven things you must know to navigate an inherited IRA.

An individual retirement account is a type of tax-advantaged investment account

An IRA lets individuals at most income levels invest either pre- or post-tax money for retirement. IRAs are often good solutions for people who don’t have the option to invest in a 401(k) plan—or for those who want to put even more money aside for retirement.

You have to earn under a certain gross amount per year to be eligible for a Roth IRA

A Roth IRA might make the most sense for someone confident that they will have a higher income in retirement than they do now. For 2025, those allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA must have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of less than $150K.

What's a rollover IRA?

A rollover IRA is a type of investment account that lets you move the money from an old retirement account into an IRA after you stop working for your employer. This move lets you keep your funds in a tax-deferred account without being hit with taxes, fees, or penalties. This article explains how you can roll over your money and highlights any restrictions to keep in mind. Learn more here.

Some people roll their 401(k) into an IRA to have more control over their account

However, some argue that you could end up paying less money to invest in a 401(k) plan than you would to invest in an IRA. This article offers a list of pros and cons regarding rolling a 401(k) into an IRA.

Some FIRE followers abide by the 4% rule for portfolio withdrawals

Many FIRE proponents also abide by the 4% rule, which says that retirees can withdraw roughly 4% (adjusted for inflation) of their retirement portfolio each year.

Spousal IRAs give spouses who do not work a way to save for retirement

In most cases, only working individuals can open and contribute to an IRA. But the IRS has a special exception for married couples: the spousal IRA. It lets the working spouse open and contribute to an IRA on behalf of their nonworking spouse.

The IRS sets new contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k) plans each year

In 2024, individuals could contribute up to $7K across all their IRAs. People aged 50 and older could contribute up to $8K. For 2025, the IRS kept the same contribution limits.

Three ways to save for your child’s future

Parents can open a custodial Roth IRA when their child starts to earn income (think: summer job), which can help them start saving early. For example, 529 accounts help parents save for college, while UTMA/UGMA accounts function like trusts.

Investments into an annuity are typically locked up during the accumulation period

For one year, most annuitants won’t be able to withdraw any funds. After that, most contracts allow them to take out up to 10% of their accumulated total annually before fees—called surrender charges—are applied to their withdrawals.

Seven early retirement lessons

After one year of retirement under his belt, financial publication Kiplinger's former editor has learned some lessons. Specifically, in this article, he shares his best early retirement advice, from when it makes sense to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth in early retirement, to how to prepare for retirement from a psychological perspective. Read more here.

PayPal's Peter Thiel turned his Roth IRA into $5B

In 1999, tech titan Peter Thiel had a Roth IRA with roughly $2K in it. By 2019, that tax-free account was worth $5B. For context, the average Roth IRA was worth roughly $39K at the end of 2018. Naturally, Thiel had a few investment options that the average person probably doesn’t have access to—but the story of his IRA’s boom is nonetheless fascinating.

The prevalence of 401(k) plans and IRAs over pensions shifted investment risk from employers to employees

The shift also reduced administrative costs for companies—and left millions without guaranteed retirement income. 401(k) plans were introduced in Section 401(k) of the 1978 Revenue Act, which was originally intended as a loophole for people like executives rather than the average employee.

A 401(k) 'super catch-up' lets people between 60 and 63 add money to their 401(k)

Through a "super catch-up," they can boost their retirement contributions as they prepare to stop working. But super catch-ups aren't always right for everyone.

Gifting money is one way to avoid death taxes

Gifting money while you're alive is one way people avoid estate and inheritance taxes. There is a yearly cap on how much you can give to a person before that money is taxed—but there isn't a cap on how many people you can give money to in a year.

If you miss the April 15 tax deadline, you could be subject to penalties

This does not apply if you file for an extension. Otherwise, you could face failure to file penalties no matter how late you file your taxes—whether it's April 16 or May 16. The penalty is 5% of the tax due for each month (or part of a month) that your return is late, minus any taxes paid on time and available credits. If you file more than 60 days late, you could owe a minimum penalty of either $525 or 100% of the unpaid tax—whichever is less.

See which age group pays the most in taxes each year

Americans between 45 and 55 pay nearly 30% of all income taxes, bearing the largest share of tax burden in the country. These taxpayers pay an average tax rate of around 17%.

Should you give up a car in retirement?

Did you know that drivers over the age of 74 tend to pay higher car insurance rates than most other age groups? That small fortune in auto insurance payments is just one reason some people give up a car when they retire. If you're curious about the pros of getting rid of your car when you retire, read this article.

Check out a list of 15 red flags that might result in an IRS audit

The Internal Revenue Service has audited less than 1% of all individual tax returns. If you're still worried about being audited, know that some people are more likely to be audited than others, such as people who make a lot of money and those who take large charitable deductions.

In 2025, the 'two strikes and you're out' rule took effect to protect consumers from repeated attempts to withdraw money

After years of being delayed by litigation, a 2024 US Supreme Court ruling upheld a law that prevents lenders from attempting to take payments from accounts with insufficient funds more than twice without reauthorization. This tactic is commonly used by payday loan companies, which technically require repayment on the day borrowers receive their paychecks.

Calculate your Social Security full retirement age

The year you were born determines when you become eligible for your Social Security full retirement age benefit. Spoiler alert, that age is no longer always 65. If you want to use this calculator to determine your full retirement age—and learn more about the drawbacks of claiming Social Security early—click here.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.