In my retirement strategy, I currently have the bulk of my funds in taxable brokerage accounts. They are producing approximately enough dividend income to cover 50 - 60% of my annual expenses. As I am maxing out 401 (k), Sep IRA and Roth IRAcontributions this year, this leaves less to be put towards my taxable dividend portfolios. The tax savings are more than worth it however. If I were a fan of Early Retirement Extreme and worked for 4 years, while saving $17,500/year in a 401 (K), the tax benefits would be equivalent to me working over one whole year. I would end up with a total of $17,500 in savings in a taxable account merely because of my marginal tax rate of 25%. This is in addition to having the contributions for four years in the 401 (k).
I expect to be able to not have to work in a traditional job environment by the end of 2018. By this time, my dividend income would likely be covering 100% of my expenses. This is because I expect dividend growth of 6 – 7% in my dividend portfolio, which continues to be reinvested in dividend paying stocks whose average yield is somewhere in the 3% - 4% range. Currently, it covers approximately 50 – 60% of expenses.
I am also expecting that I would earn some money on the side in a 1099 capacity after my retirement date, although I am not counting on it. Of course, if I have all the free time in the world, chances are I could write a book on dividend investing, start a stock picking paid service, create and run a low cost dividend mutual fund or start a TV show on dividend investing ( to name a few possible items). Or I could get really bored and start advising persons on financial and tax matters for a fee. This extra income however, would not be spent but merely end up accumulating. Since I would consider myself retired, and already have dividends covering my income, this would mean that some of my assets would need to be put in a tax deferred account today. Otherwise, I would be drowning in cash, and would be paying too much to the tax person for years. For example, if I make $24,000 in annual dividend income, and $24,000 in contracting income, but only need $24,000 to live on, I am essentially earning too much. If I made the dividends in a tax-deferred account, I could therefore choose to withdraw them as I please (or as I need the money to live on). It doesn’t make sense to pay taxes for dividend income I am not using, especially if it is in a taxable account. In a tax-deferred account, the money will compound tax-free for decades.
Therefore, the optimistic scenario is that I max out contributions and keep the 401 (k), Sep IRA and Roth IRA to compound tax-free for several decades. If I do not make too much money from dividends and side hustles once I retire, but enough to live on, I would start rolling over portions of my 401 (k) into a Roth IRA. I would try not to pay more than a 15% tax on that rollover. I expect that within 3 – 4 years after retirement, I should be able complete the conversion process. After that, I might also consider rolling any IRA and Sep IRA accounts over to Roth, depending on balances and my tax situation.
However, if I end up making too much from my dividend stocks and side hustles, I would likely have to simply roll those 401 (k) amounts into a regular IRA, and slowly convert it into a portfolio of dividend paying stocks. I expect it to compound tax-free for several decades, until I reach the age of 70.50 years old and have to take required minimum distributions. Since I have several decades before I hit that age, this could potentially be a large tax hit. Of course, I would much rather use any trick under my sleeve to accumulate as much cash as I can to generate as much dividend income, in order to achieve my goals of retiring early. The trade-offs are well worth it.
This is because it is much better to accumulate $17,500 in a 401 (k) in a single year, rather than accumulate only $13,125 in a taxable account for the year. In addition, I am somewhat protected from increases in tax rates on the amounts that would stay inside tax-deferred accounts. If tax rates on dividends and capital gains increased to match ordinary income rates, this could be bad for retired dividend investors. Of course, I do not know where tax rates are going to be 30 – 40 years from now, which is why I try to diversify against the risk of higher taxes by shifting some of my assets to tax deferred types of accounts.
Last but not least, I fully expect my taxable accounts to be able to cover my expenses in 4 - 5 years based on current levels, and projections for reinvestment at yields of 3 - 4 % and dividend growth of 6 - 7 %/year. The excess is going to tax deferred accounts ( 401K, Sep IRA and Roth IRA), which would likely be able to cover somewhere between 25% - 33% of expenses above 100%. This would be the reserve account in case my dividend income does not grow at or above the rate of inflation or if I experience too many dividend cuts for whatever reason. Another reason for the reserve is that I might end up spending more than I initially projected. Since I am hoping not to have to touch this "reserve fund" unless something unexpected happens, it is much better to be in a tax-deferred account, and it won't generate tax liabilities on income i don't need.
After reading all four articles on tax deferred accounts, I hope you learned the general overview of options available to you outside of taxable accounts. I also hope my take was helpful.
Addendum: My retirement strategy for tax-free income explained more thoroughly
My goal in retirement is to essentially live off dividends (qualified dividends) and pay no taxes in retirement. Using 2015 rates, a couple that is married and filing jointly will not pay any federal taxes if they earn less than $95,500 in qualified dividend income. This exercise assumes that the couple has no other source of income.
The couple will have a standard deduction of $12,600, and the personal exemptions will be $8000 ( $4000 per person), for a total of $20,600. In order to avoid paying taxes on qualified dividend income, the couple needs to make sure that they stay in the 15% marginal tax bracket. The highest income per that bracket for 2015 is $74,900. Therefore, adding $74,900 to $20,600 gets us up to $95,500.
My strategy for tax-free income is to live off qualified dividends and not pay any taxes in the process. However, I also expect to convert 401 (k) and IRA balances into Roth slowly. You can recall that I get a 25% - 30% deduction for putting money in 401 (k) and IRA today. My goal is to convert that amount in 401 (k) and IRA slowly into a Roth IRA when I retire, and to pay no taxes in the process.
How is that possible?
Let’s assume that a married couple files taxes jointly and has no other income than $74,000 in annual qualified dividends. This means they will pay no taxes on that qualified dividend income. However, if they rolled over $20,600 from an old 401 (k) into a Roth IRA, they will pay zero taxes on the conversion.
This is possible, because a 401 (k) to Roth IRA conversion creates ordinary taxable income. However, ordinary taxable income that is lower than the sum total of the standard deduction and personal exemptions creates a taxable liability of zero. The sum total of the standard deduction and personal exemptions for a married couple comes out to $20,600 for 2015. And of course, since the sum of the $20,600 IRA conversion and the $74,000 in qualified dividend income is less than $95,500, the total income stream will be tax-free at the Federal level.
Therefore, if the couple has a 401 (k) with $100,000 in it, they can expect to convert it into a Roth IRA within 5 years or so and pay no taxes in the process. This is a pretty sweet deal, because the couple likely received hefty tax breaks in saving the money into a 401 (k) in the first place. However, they converted it into a Roth IRA, which means that any future distributions from this Roth IRA will be tax-free. This is the type of deal where you get your cake and you eat it too, which is very appealing to the Dividend Growth Investor.
And to add another thing for you to think about, it is important to complete these 401 (k) to Roth IRA conversions before you start claiming Social Security benefits. This is because the addition of Social Security Benefits will increase ordinary taxable income, and could lead to paying some tax on the 401 (k)/IRA to Roth IRA conversion. In addition, it is really important that the conversion of a 401 (k)/IRA to Roth IRA occurs prior to the age of 70 and a half years, in order to avoid having to make required minimum distributions (RMD). Those Required Minimum Distributions from a 401 (k) or IRA are subject to ordinary income taxes. If you have already completed the conversion to a Roth IRA prior to the age of 70 and a half, you will not have to make required minimum distributions. This is why tax planning is so important - it can add more money for the investor, speed up the process of asset accumulation, and reduce tax expenses in retirement.
Relevant Articles:
- Why I Considered Tax-Advantaged Accounts for My Dividend investing
- Is Dividend Mantra Wrong on Taxes?
- How to Retire Early With Tax-Advantaged Accounts
- Do not despise the days of small beginnings
- Price is what you pay, value is what you get
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