My wife stopped working with our first, and I just read that we can open a Roth IRA for in addition to my Roth. I think I read that her Roth would also qualify as a deduction since she doesn't have an other qualifying IRA.

I have Fidelity through work, so should I just use them through the general means to open hers as well? Am I right about the deduction?

I also want to do something with her TRS, but don't know how to invest since again she doesn't work and I don't want to affect our AGI up. Ideas?

She can open the "spousal" IRA with any firm she wants, but it has to be in her name alone.

Yes, I'm aware that it'll be in her name, but I'll be funding it with my income.

newhowdyag2004 said:

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My wife stopped working with our first, and I just read that we can open a Roth IRA for in addition to my Roth. I think I read that her Roth would also qualify as a deduction since she doesn't have an other qualifying IRA.

I have Fidelity through work, so should I just use them through the general means to open hers as well? Am I right about the deduction?

I also want to do something with her TRS, but don't know how to invest since again she doesn't work and I don't want to affect our AGI up. Ideas?

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Spousal Ira deductions are the same for everyone; traditional gets the deduction but pays taxes on distribution. Roth gets no deduction and no taxes in the future. You can't deduct Roth money.

Trs can roll into an Ira (few more steps than a 401k rollover). If she plans to go back into the system at some point in the future it may be best to leave it there though, otherwise she'd be starting from scratch again unless you elect to buy her hours back. If she has no plans to go back into the TRS system you're better off rolling to an IRA. The growth of an inactive TRS pension balance is laughable; main benefit of TRS is hour accrual and salary increases.

We just rolled my wifes Trs out after three years of being out in the corporate world. When it went from 5% to 2% interest it was a no brainer. You have to request a form from Trs. They will send you the form only in the mail. Then you send the form back. They send you another form. You send that back with the rollover information from the new ira. They will them send you a check to send to the new ira. Took about 90 days in total.

She also had a 403b. It was necessary since we needed the deduction and i didnt have a 401k at my firm. We have been working on rolling that over for 6 months. They will not provide the forms or will provide the wrong forms. Each form is really complex and needs everything notarized. You make one mistake and they decline the transfer. It seems like an erisa violation.

dallasiteinsa02 said:

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We just rolled my wifes Trs out after three years of being out in the corporate world. When it went from 5% to 2% interest it was a no brainer. You have to request a form from Trs. They will send you the form only in the mail. Then you send the form back. They send you another form. You send that back with the rollover information from the new ira. They will them send you a check to send to the new ira. Took about 90 days in total.

She also had a 403b. It was necessary since we needed the deduction and i didnt have a 401k at my firm. We have been working on rolling that over for 6 months. They will not provide the forms or will provide the wrong forms. Each form is really complex and needs everything notarized. You make one mistake and they decline the transfer. It seems like an erisa violation.

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The first trs form is on the trs website. You can download that and fill it out to mail in (it needs to be notarized). The second form directed how to roll the funds to you does need to be mailed to you by trs. The whole process is ridiculous.

403b should not be that difficult, though.

My wife retired and gets the TRS pension. She had a 403b as well. Recently we moved all of our retirement accounts (which were at four places) to the brokerage where my son-in-law works. Everything went smoothly and timely other than the 403b. He told us from the beginning it would take awhile and it did.

Does TRS wait to distribute your refund until after your last paycheck from the school district, or can you submit your request earlier?