Substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP) are one of the exceptions in the United States Internal Revenue Code that allows a retiree to receive payments before age 591⁄2 from a retirement plan or deferred annuity without the 10% early distribution penalty under certain circumstances. [1]
The rules for SEPPs are set out in Code section 72(t) (for retirement plans) and section 72(q) (for annuities), and allow for three methods of calculating the allowed withdrawal amount:
The interest rate that can be used in the latter two calculations can be any rate up to 5% per annum, or up to 120% of the Applicable Federal Mid Term rate (AFR) for either of the two months prior to the calculation. [2] SEPP payments must continue for the longer of five years or until the account owner reaches 591⁄2. [2] The payments cannot be changed beyond a one-time allowed change from one of the latter two calculation methods to the first or all of the payments received will be retroactively taxable and penalized. [3] [4]
If the retirement account owner withdraws more or less than the amount calculated under the SEPP formula, the 10% early distribution penalty that was waived would apply in all instances (where it was waived under the SEPP program), and interest on those amounts would also apply.
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This legal option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers.
An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of pension provided by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's earned income for the taxpayer's eventual benefit in old age. An individual retirement account is a type of individual retirement arrangement as described in IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). Other arrangements include employer-established benefit trusts and individual retirement annuities, by which a taxpayer purchases an annuity contract or an endowment contract from a life insurance company.
A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account (IRA) under United States law that is generally not taxed upon distribution, provided certain conditions are met. The principal difference between Roth IRAs and most other tax-advantaged retirement plans is that rather than granting a tax reduction for contributions to the retirement plan, qualified withdrawals from the Roth IRA plan are tax-free, and growth in the account is tax-free.
Universal life insurance is a type of cash value life insurance, sold primarily in the United States. Under the terms of the policy, the excess of premium payments above the current cost of insurance is credited to the cash value of the policy, which is credited each month with interest. The policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge as well as any other policy charges and fees drawn from the cash value, even if no premium payment is made that month. Interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer but has a contractual minimum rate. When an earnings rate is pegged to a financial index such as a stock, bond or other interest rate index, the policy is an "Indexed universal life" contract. Such policies offer the advantage of guaranteed level premiums throughout the insured's lifetime at a substantially lower premium cost than an equivalent whole life policy at first. The cost of insurance always increases, as is found on the cost index table. That not only allows for easy comparison of costs between carriers but also works well in irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) since cash is of no consequence.
A retirement plan is a financial arrangement designed to replace employment income upon retirement. These plans may be set up by employers, insurance companies, trade unions, the government, or other institutions. Congress has expressed a desire to encourage responsible retirement planning by granting favorable tax treatment to a wide variety of plans. Federal tax aspects of retirement plans in the United States are based on provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the plans are regulated by the Department of Labor under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
A traditional IRA is an individual retirement arrangement (IRA), established in the United States by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Normal IRAs also existed before ERISA.
The Roth 401(k) is a type of retirement savings plan. It was authorized by the United States Congress under the Internal Revenue Code, section 402A, and represents a unique combination of features of the Roth IRA and a traditional 401(k) plan. Since January 1, 2006, U.S. employers have been allowed to amend their 401(k) plan document to allow employees to elect Roth IRA type tax treatment for a portion or all of their retirement plan contributions. The same change in law allowed Roth IRA type contributions to 403(b) retirement plans. The Roth retirement plan provision was enacted as a provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA 2001).
Retirement annuity plan is a financial product that ensures regular income to retirees in later years most often issued and distributed by an insurance organization. The main idea behind this product is to provide retirees the opportunity to attain income after retirement. A 'Retirement annuity plan (RAP) is a type of retirement plan similar to IRA that provides a stream of regular (single) distributions to an insured retiree. Time intervals between distributions as well as their amount are defined by conditions and type of the annuity between issuer organization and client. Nowadays many types of retirement annuities are offered on the market.
Prior to 2006, a private annuity trust (PAT) was an arrangement to enable the value of highly appreciated assets, such as real estate, collectables or an investment portfolio, to be realized without directly selling them and incurring substantial taxes from their sale.
In the United States, an annuity is a financial product which offers tax-deferred growth and which usually offers benefits such as an income for life. Typically these are offered as structured (insurance) products that each state approves and regulates in which case they are designed using a mortality table and mainly guaranteed by a life insurer. There are many different varieties of annuities sold by carriers. In a typical scenario, an investor will make a single cash premium to own an annuity. After the policy is issued the owner may elect to annuitize the contract for a chosen period of time. This process is called annuitization and can also provide a predictable, guaranteed stream of future income during retirement until the death of the annuitant. Alternatively, an investor can defer annuitizing their contract to get larger payments later, hedge long-term care cost increases, or maximize a lump sum death benefit for a named beneficiary.
Under European Union law, an annuity is a financial contract which provides an income stream in return for an initial payment with specific parameters. It is the opposite of a settlement funding. A Swiss annuity is not considered a European annuity for tax reasons.
A self-directed individual retirement account is an individual retirement account (IRA) which allows alternative investments for retirement savings. Some examples of these alternative investments are real estate, private mortgages, private company stock, oil and gas limited partnerships, precious metals, digital assets, horses and livestock, and intellectual property. The increased investment options available in self-directed IRAs prompted the SEC to issue a public notice in 2011 due an increased risk of fraud in alternative assets.
A structured settlement factoring transaction means a transfer of structured settlement payment rights made for consideration by means of sale, assignment, pledge, or other form of encumbrance or alienation for consideration. In order for such transfer to be approved, the transfer must comply with Internal Revenue Code section 5891 and any applicable state structured settlement protection law.
A life annuity is an annuity, or series of payments at fixed intervals, paid while the purchaser is alive. The majority of life annuities are insurance products sold or issued by life insurance companies however substantial case law indicates that annuity products are not necessarily insurance products.
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are minimum amounts that U.S. tax law requires one to withdraw annually from traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans. In the Internal Revenue Code itself, the precise term is "minimum required distribution". Retirement planners, tax practitioners, and publications of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) often use the phrase "required minimum distribution".
A grantor-retained annuity trust, is a financial instrument commonly used in the United States to make large financial gifts to family members without paying a U.S. gift tax.
Longevity insurance, describes the process of mitigating against Longevity risk. Such risk mitigation is often achieved using a longevity annuity or Tontine, qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC), deferred income annuity, is an annuity contract designed to provide to the policyholder payments for life starting at a pre-established future age, e.g., 85, and purchased many years before reaching that age.
Fixed annuities are insurance products which protect against loss and generally offer fixed rates of return. The rates are typically based on the current interest rate environment. They are offered by licensed and regulated insurance companies. State insurance/insolvency funds guarantees vary from state to state, and may not cover 100% of the Annuity Value. For example, in California the fund will cover "80% not to exceed $250,000."
In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals. Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, monthly home mortgage payments, monthly insurance payments and pension payments. Annuities can be classified by the frequency of payment dates. The payments (deposits) may be made weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, or at any other regular interval of time. Annuities may be calculated by mathematical functions known as "annuity functions".
In the United States, Form 1099-R is a variant of Form 1099 used for reporting on distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement or profit sharing plans, IRAs, charitable gift annuities and Insurance Contracts. Form 1099-R is filed for each person who has received a distribution of $10 or more from any of the above.