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Perhaps you’ve lost a job, faced an illness or have been delt a family crisis that emptied out your emergency fund. What are your next steps?

You’re eyeing center-hall colonials in your neighborhood and dreaming about the garden you want to plant in the backyard and all the holiday celebrations you’ll host. You’ve saved toward this goal and think you’re ready to pull the trigger. But the real question is: How much house can I afford?

Or is it?

Social Security’s financial cliff is coming closer into view. Experts project that the fund that pays for government retirement benefits through FICA taxes will be depleted within the next 15 years.

A “distribution” occurs when you withdraw funds from your 401(k) account. You can transfer these funds to another 401(k) or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Or you may use them to finance your retirement or some other life goal.

New 401(k) Rules for the New Normal

An important part of tax planning when it comes to investing is considering the tax impact of accessing your investment funds. As you know, one of the key features of the traditional 401(k) retirement account is that you can contribute pre-tax dollars from your income, which then grow tax free until you need them.

A municipal bond is essentially an IOU from a local government. You agree to lend that municipality money for a certain period of time, and they agree to pay you back with interest.

You may know about Roth IRAs, but did you know that many employers now give retirement plan participants a Roth 401(k) option? Both traditional and Roth 401(k)s offer significant tax benefits for investors, but those benefits differ in ways that are important for you to understand.

Traditional Values

If we’ve learned nothing else from Marvel Comics, we know that every superhero needs an origin story, and the 401(k) retirement account has a great one. After more than 50 years, an afterthought in the federal tax code is now one of the most-popular retirement savings vehicles in the United States. 

Do you want a car? Of course you do! A car allows you to go wherever you want and have fun doing it. But buying too much car — or the wrong car — can be a big budget buster you have to live with (and pay for) for years to come.

Needs and Wants

The average annual cost of attending a four-year public college in 2018-2019 was more than $20,000 (tuition, room and board). Private colleges were even pricier at close to $45,000.