The Tax Bill Haunting Your 401(k) and I.R.A. – The New York Times

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The Tax Bill Haunting Your 401(k) and I.R.A. – The New York Times

Unlike traditional 401(k)s and I.R.A.s, Roth I.R.A.s and Roth savings options within workplace plans are funded with after-tax dollars — in other words, you pay the income tax bill upfront. Like a traditional 401(k) or I.R.A., your investments grow tax-free. Unlike tax-deferred accounts, Roth withdrawals are generally tax-free too, if used as intended in retirement or by your heirs.

Roths also offer a way to hedge your bets against possible higher tax rates in the future, said Ed Slott, a tax expert and Roth guru.

“Most older people are heavily overweighted in tax-deferred accounts — they have no tax risk diversification,” Mr. Slott said. “These are sophisticated investors who would never put all their eggs in one basket, because that’s a basic rule of investing — yet all their eggs are in one tax basket, so they’re at the mercy of a possible future higher tax bill.”

Exclusive | SEC Prepares Proposal to Eliminate Quarterly Reporting Requirement – WSJ

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Exclusive | SEC Prepares Proposal to Eliminate Quarterly Reporting Requirement – WSJ

The push for semiannual reporting gained steam late last year. The Long-Term Stock Exchange petitioned the SEC to eliminate the quarterly earnings report requirement, The Wall Street Journal reported in September. Within days, President Trump and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins both said they supported the idea.

Publicly traded companies in the U.S. have reported results every three months for the past 50-plus years. Trump briefly explored the idea of moving to semiannual earnings reports during his first term, but the effort went nowhere.

Those in favor of less-frequent reporting requirements believe a switch could help boost the shrinking number of public companies in the U.S. Among the reasons companies cite as to why they remain private is the time-consuming and costly clerical work required to list and maintain publicly traded shares.

Any change is likely to face opposition from investors who rely on the transparency of regular disclosures.