Retirement Plans and Tax-Advantaged Accounts: Rapid Fire

What this video covers

• Why qualified plans must be non-discriminatory and creditor-protected in trust, and why non-qualified plans can legally favor executives but expose them to general creditors
• How defined benefit plans shift investment risk to the employer with actuarially determined contributions and PBGC insurance, while defined contribution plans shift risk to the employee through individual accounts with no PBGC backstop
• What the 2026 contribution and total-addition limits are, and why employer matching does not reduce the $24,500 elective deferral but does count against the $72,000 annual-addition ceiling
• When the 10% early withdrawal penalty applies, why 457(b) plans never incur it, and which exceptions belong to employer plans only versus IRAs only
• How 60-day rollovers trigger mandatory 20% withholding from employer plans, why RMDs cannot be rolled over, and the tax bracket danger of delaying your first RMD to April 1
• How net unrealized appreciation (NUA) taxes cost basis as ordinary income but appreciation as long-term capital gains, and why the stock must distribute in kind in a lump sum
• Why the pro rata rule pools all Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs together so withdrawals are proportionally taxable, and which investments are prohibited inside any IRA