Q: I’m struggling with handling my finances online. My growing password list is frustrating. I know cybersecurity is important, but what can I do to make this both safe and easier for me?
A: You are not alone in your struggle. While my column a couple of weeks ago addressed scams related to fake financial websites, your question gives me a chance to reiterate and reinforce some additional safety steps.
My first suggestion is to choose a trusted person that you will always turn to for tech help. If anyone asks you to do anything online that raises even an ounce of concern, disconnect online (or hang up the phone) and immediately contact your go-to trusted person.
Next, strongly consider reducing the number of financial accounts you have. Really try to get down to one bank, one credit card and one brokerage firm.
Finally, you should review all your online financial accounts to make sure you set up “two-factor authentication” on each of them. With this in place, when you log in, you will get a text message or an email with a unique code to get online.
Q: Both my husband and I turn 73 this year. We have our investments spread across multiple brokerage firms. How do we best handle the required minimum distributions from all of these IRAs?
A: Now that you’ve reached age 73, and every year from this point forward, you’ll have to deal with required minimum distributions (RMDs.) Unfortunately, it’s now time for the government to finally get their tax revenue.
Your RMDs amount will change each year based on your age and the market value of your IRAs on the last day of the prior year. Don’t worry about having to do the calculation each year. Your brokerage firms will inform you of the new RMD amount each year. It’s usually published on the back pages of your IRA statements.
While most people tend to take each RMD amount from each of their individual IRA accounts, you are allowed to add up all of your RMDs and take out that amount from just one of your IRAs. Regardless of how you end up handling it, the key thing is to not forget an account!
But, my default advice is to consider consolidating your IRAs. It will save you effort and will reduce the chances that you overlook your RMD. It also creates less work for you and fewer tax forms to gather and process next year.
Of course, while you are both alive, your IRAs and your husband’s IRAs will always remain separated. After one of you dies, you can then consolidate them.
