Many of us in private practice have funded IRAs by working hard and saving money. Thank goodness the Senate Finance Committee will change hands. The current Senate Finance Committee Chairman looks like he wants to redistribute that wealth.
Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a statement on November 19 following the release of a GAO report stating that for tax year 2011, roughly 600,000 taxpayers had IRA accounts worth more than $1 million – and about 9,000 taxpayers had IRAs worth more than $5 million. Most Americans, who had a median IRA account balance of about $21,000.
Wyden said, “The state of retirement savings in the U.S. is completely out of whack. On one hand you’ve got people sheltering millions of dollars in mega IRAs, while at the same time nearly a third of Americans have nothing set aside for retirement. It’s abundantly clear that America needs a better system and tax code that supports retirement planning for all Americans.”
Full GAO report here: IRAs http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/666595.pdf
Courtesy Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD @MSingletonMDJD
