Retirement and pensions

How a 401(k) plan works for a small business, plus the 2025 deferral, catch-up, and pay limits in IRS Publication 560 (2025).

A SIMPLE IRA plan lets employees set aside pay and requires employer contributions. Learn the 100-employee limit, the 3% and 2% formulas, and 2025 limits.

How Form 8881 works for the small employer pension startup, auto-enrollment, and military spouse credits, per IRS instructions (Rev. Dec. 2025).

What Form 5498 reports about IRA contributions and year-end value, and the 2025 filing and statement dates (IRS, 2025 instructions).

How federal civil service retirement annuity payments split into taxable and nontaxable parts, per IRS Publication 721 (2025).

Basic 403(b) rules from Publication 571: contribution types, the 2025 deferral limit, Roth contributions, early withdrawals, and required distributions.

A SEP IRA lets an employer contribute to employees' retirement accounts. Learn the eligibility rules, the 2025 limit, and the deadline.

Part of a pension or annuity payment may be a return of your cost. Learn who must use the simplified method and how Worksheet A works.

Move retirement money without current tax by finishing the rollover within 60 days. Learn the time limit, the waiver, and the one-year waiting period.

Disability pensions paid under an employer plan are usually taxable. Learn the minimum retirement age rule and when payments become a regular pension.

Form 8919 reports Social Security and Medicare tax on pay from a firm that treated you as a contractor. Learn who must file and how it is figured.

Form 8915-F reports retirement withdrawals taken after a federally declared disaster. Learn the $22,000 limit, 3-year spread, and repayment rules.

Form 5329 reports the 10% additional tax on early retirement withdrawals and lists the exception codes for 2025. Learn how Part I works.

No W-2 or 1099-R, or the form is wrong? Learn the steps before Form 4852, the IRS phone number, where to attach it and what to keep.

Tips you did not report to your employer can owe Social Security and Medicare tax. Learn the $20 monthly rule and how Form 4137 figures the tax.

Form 1098-Q reports details of a qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC). Learn what each box shows and what to check.

Putting more into an IRA than the yearly limit can trigger a 6% tax. Learn how to withdraw the excess by the deadline and report it.

A traditional IRA contribution may lower your taxable income. Learn how contributing differs from deducting, and which rules limit the deduction.

How the IRS decides whether Social Security is taxable: Form SSA-1099, the $25,000 and $32,000 base amounts, the 50% and 85% tiers, and a worked example.

The Saver's Credit can lower your tax when you put money into an IRA or workplace plan. Learn who qualifies and the 50%, 20%, and 10% rates.

How Roth and traditional IRAs differ on deductions, withdrawals, and required distributions, with 2026 limits from IRS.gov.

What a required minimum distribution is, the SECURE 2.0 age rules (73 or 75), when the first one is due, and how the amount is figured.

Form 8606 tracks after-tax money in your traditional IRA, called basis. File it for nondeductible contributions, some withdrawals, or Roth conversions.

What Form 1099-R reports on pensions, annuities, and IRAs: boxes 1, 2a, 4, and 7, the 10% tax, and where amounts go on Form 1040.

How much of your Social Security and pension is federally taxable? Learn the base amounts, the 50% and 85% rules, and see a worked example.