This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst Newspapers on August 17, 2018. An IRA (individual retirement account) is a tax-deferred savings program used by millions of Americans to help fund their retirements. IRAs are great tax and retirement tools, and they need to be integrated into each person’s estate planning. Universally, when an IRA is established and funded, the owner also designates specific individuals to receive the funds in c

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on December 29, 2015. Dear Mr. Premack: I just got a brief email from a charity to which I make donations. They said there is a new tax law and I should give them a boatload of money. What is the new law? Any details? – D.S. Congress passed and on December 18 the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (HR 2029) which contains a law called the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015”. The

This column first appeared in the SA Express-News and online at MySA.com on February 18, 2015. Dear Mr. Premack: I just received a notice from the bank where my traditional IRA is invested. The notice says that “on or after January 1, 2015, you are permitted to roll over only one distribution from an IRA in a 12-month period, regardless of the number of IRAs you own.” I still have some IRA funds in 3 CDs at another bank, and all three CDs mature this year. I had planned to ro