Linda is in her middle working years and anticipates receiving Social Security when she retires. But she has several questions about whether she should also start funding an IRA.

• How should I fund my IRA?
• Is it a good idea to do an IRA rollover?
• At what age should I start taking IRA distributions?
• Should I take the minimum required distribution or a larger amount?

Funding the IRA

If you are not actively participating in another type of qualified retirement plan and are within an adjusted gross income limit, you may qualify to transfer a substantial sum each year into an IRA. The IRA contribution amount is $7,000 this year. If you are over age 50, you may also make an additional $1,000 "catch-up" contribution. The maximum IRA contribution amounts are indexed for inflation in increments of $500. In future years, the contribution amount will increase.

Because Linda is over age 50, she is able to contribute $7,000 and her catch-up amount of $1,000, for a total of $8,000 to her IRA this year.

Linda considers the options to create a regular IRA or a Roth IRA. Because she wants to receive the income tax deduction, she transfers the funds into a regular IRA and deducts the $8,000 on her federal tax returns.

IRA Rollovers

The majority of larger IRAs are funded through rollovers from retirement plans through your employer. If you have a qualified plan through your employment, upon separation from service or reaching a specific age, such as 70, you will usually have an option to rollover to a self-directed IRA.

Normally, your qualified plan through a business has been funded with pretax income. The IRA account also benefits from tax free growth. Therefore, the rollover will be from the other qualified plan into a regular IRA. Your IRA will continue to grow tax free, but future distributions to you will be taxable.

IRAs may be rolled over to a new custodian. The preferred method is to have a custodian-to-custodian transfer. If the funds are transferred directly from one IRA custodian to the new custodian, there is no tax.

While it is permissible for your custodian to transfer funds to you and then for you to make the rollover, your IRA custodian will withhold 20%. Because of the 20% withholding requirement, virtually all IRA rollovers are completed with the custodian-to-custodian method.

An IRA to Roth IRA rollover may also be permissible for you. Generally speaking, people with any adjusted gross income are permitted to transfer a regular IRA to a Roth IRA. The value of the IRA will be included in your taxable income, so you may owe a substantial income tax for the conversion.

The primary benefit of the conversion to the Roth is that a Roth IRA does not have a mandatory distribution requirement at age 73. The funds may be permitted to grow tax free and, at the discretion of the owner, may be withdrawn tax free during retirement years. If the owner of a Roth IRA does not make withdrawals, then the Roth may be transferred to children, who may make tax-free withdrawals over a term of ten years.

IRA Distributions

For a traditional IRA, there are specific rules on both contributions and withdrawals. Withdrawals for distributions are generally not taken before age 59½. With limited exceptions—such as uniform distributions over a lifetime, disability, separation from employment after age 55, or other exceptions—there is a 10% excise tax in addition to the regular ordinary income tax on withdrawals before age 59½. Therefore, very few individuals take early withdrawals before age 59½.

Between ages 59½ and 73, there is an optional period for withdrawals. The withdrawals are not required, but you may withdraw any amount. Of course, for a traditional IRA the amount withdrawn is taxable to you and no longer grows tax free in the fund. Therefore, you may not want to take withdrawals unless you actually need the funds for living expenses.

After you reach age 73, there are required minimum distributions (RMDs). The distributions start at approximately 3.8% at age 73 but increase with age each year. The distribution is calculated using your balance on December 31 multiplied by the appropriate percentage and must be taken by the end of the next year. The penalty for failing to take a required minimum distribution is 25%. If the plan participant corrects the failure in a timely manner, the excise tax on the penalty is further reduced to 10%.

While osteoporosis is more common in adults over the age of 60, it can also affect younger individuals as well. In fact, according to the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), 50% of women and up to 25% of men in the U.S. over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis. Here is what you should know.

Osteoporosis, called a “silent” disease, weakens your bones with no warning signs until a fracture occurs. Around 10 million Americans who are 50 or older have osteoporosis, and an additional 44 million have osteopenia (lower than normal bone density) – 80% of whom are women.

By the time most individuals reach their late 30’s, they gradually start losing some of their bone mass. For women, the biggest decline happens in the five to seven years following menopause, when estrogen levels—important for maintaining bone strength—drop sharply. Bone loss for men occurs much more gradually but, by age 70, osteoporosis is as common in men as it is in women.

To help you determine your risk of osteoporosis, the International Osteoporosis Foundation has a quick, online test you can take at RiskCheck.Osteoporosis.Foundation.

Bone Checkup

According to BHOF, women over 65 and men over 70 should have a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, which is a painless measurement of the calcium in your bones. Those at high risk should start around age 50. Factors that support early screening include a family history of osteoporosis, a broken bone after age 50, vitamin D deficiency, smoking, rheumatoid arthritis or use of medications that can weaken bones, such as steroid prednisone and certain antidepressants. Most bone density tests are covered by health insurance companies, including Medicare, and are done in hospital radiology departments, private radiology practices and stand-alone clinics.

Bone-Builders

If your bone scan finds that you have osteopenia but have a low to moderate 10-year fracture risk, lifestyle measures are usually the best course of action. Three important things you can do to boost your bone health include:

Get enough calcium and vitamin D: Calcium helps keep bones strong, and vitamin D helps us absorb calcium. Women over 50 and men over 70 need at least 1,200 mg of calcium per day from foods like dairy, canned sardines, kale, and fortified orange juice. All adults should get between 600 to 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily. Since this amount is not often obtained from just food, it is recommended to have your levels checked to see if you need a supplement.

Exercise: Low impact weight-bearing exercises, like walking, and strength training with light weights or resistant bands several times a week can help build bone strength, as well as improve balance and muscle strength.

Do not smoke: Women who smoke a pack of cigarettes per day as adults have less dense bones at menopause.

Osteoporosis Meds

If your bone density test finds that you have osteoporosis, your doctor will probably recommend medications. The first line of treatment is usually bisphosphonates such as alendronate (Binosto and Fosamax), risedronate (Actonel and Atelvia), and ibandronate (Boniva). These oral or injectable drugs slow the breakdown of bone but will not build it back.

For severe osteoporosis your doctor may prescribe an anabolic: teriparatide (Forteo), abaloparatide (Tymlos), or romosozumab (Evenity). These are typically given as daily or monthly injections, and increase the amount and strength of bones.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. During this season, the IRS and Security Summit partners focus on protecting individuals from identity theft and fraud.

The holidays are a season of celebration. Millions of Americans shop online and browse on social media. However, fraudsters delight in knowing many individuals do not understand the best practices for online security. The holiday season can be an open door for swindlers who are "eager to swipe people's personal information” and use it for identity theft.

Security Summit members urge everyone to be vigilant and encourage parents to teach children and teens how to recognize and avoid online scams. Many children and teens have smartphones and spend time every day texting friends and using social media.

The IRS and the Security Summit Members offer specific tips for both individuals and their families. These tips are helpful and essential to protect yourself against fraudsters and scanmmers.

1. Learn to Recognize Scams — Fraudsters frequently claim they are from your bank or the IRS. You should recognize that scammers can trick your caller-ID to show the call is coming from your bank or the IRS. The IRS does not use email or social media to discuss your personal tax issues. If you receive a text or phishing email that looks suspicious, do not click on any attachments. You can forward phishing emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
2. Protect Personal Information (PI) — A fraudster will ask carefully-crafted questions that are designed to encourage you to disclose personal information. He or she may offer information initially to build a relationship with you. However, at some point, the fraudster will ask for your birthdate, address, age or financial information. He or she may also encourage you to log in to your bank account and disclose information from your bank account or your Social Security Number. You should be cautious and not share information. If you are contacted by phone, you should hang up and then call your financial institution or the IRS.
3. Update Passwords — Many individuals have 10 to 80 different online accounts. Nearly all major businesses ask you to create an account to track your online orders. It is important to maintain and update your passwords for these financial and business accounts. A good password contains a combination of capital letters, lower case letters, numbers and special characters. To help you keep track of multiple accounts with different passwords, it is convenient to use a password manager. The password managers on your smartphone, tablet or computer have high levels of encryption to store your passwords. You simply need to remember one master password for your password manager account. You must be very careful not to write down or disclose your master password.
4. Two-Factor Authentication — You should create extra security for all your financial accounts. These financial organizations offer two-factor authentication. You enter a password to log in to the account and then a text is sent to your phone with a six-digit number. After you enter both the password and the number, you will be able to access your account. While no security is perfect, two-factor authentication is a significant increase in security and should be used for your financial accounts.
5. Update Computer Software — Many hacking attempts succeed because the fraudster finds a "hole" in your computer or phone software. It is generally possible with most operating systems to enable automatic updates. Your computer and phone software will usually be updated once or twice a week by the main vendor. These updates are necessary because there are always new potential security risks with the complex software on your computer or your phone.
6. Avoid Public Wi-Fi — Many restaurants and commercial organizations allow access to public Wi-Fi. This public Wi-Fi may be used if you are simply browsing the internet, and your device has updated antivirus software. However, you should never log in to any personal accounts, especially your financial accounts, on public Wi-Fi. With your financial accounts, you should use a virtual private network (VPN) for access or password-protected Wi-Fi in your home or place of business.

Most memory care units, or special care units, are housed within assisted living or nursing home facilities. They provide many benefits including staff that are trained in dementia care, offer individualized care that minimizes the use of risky psychotropic medications, and create a home-like environment with activities designed to improve residents’ quality of life. To assist you in finding a suitable facility, consider the following steps.

Make a list: To identify memory care residential units in your area, ask your parent’s doctor for a referral or use an online search tool. It is beneficial if the facilities on your list are close to family and friends who can visit often, as regular visits often enhance residents’ overall wellbeing.

Research your options: Once you have made a list, call your local long-term care ombudsman. Long-term care ombudsman regularly visit assisted living and nursing homes and address complaints and advocate for quality care. They also provide information to the public regarding facilities, including which facilities have experienced problems in the past.

If you are considering a memory care unit within a nursing home facility, use Medicare’s nursing home compare tool (Medicare.gov/care-compare). This online tool provides a five-star rating system that can utilize maps and filters to help identify providers that fit your parent’s needs.

Call the facilities: Once you have identified a few potential facilities, contact them to find out if they have any vacancies. Also, you should ask other questions such as if they provide the types of services your parent needs, their fees and if they accept Medicaid.

Tour your top choices: During your tour, notice the cleanliness and smell of the facility. Is it homey and inviting? Does the staff seem responsive and kind to its residents? Taste the food and if possible, talk to the current residents’ family members.

Other areas to ask about are staff screening and training procedures, turnover rates and their staff-to-resident ratios. Confirm that they provide quality activities to keep your parent engaged and learn how they respond to residents who may wander or become confused. It is also a good idea to make multiple visits to the facility including an unscheduled visit in the evening or weekend when the facility is more likely to be understaffed.

Since transitions can be unsettling it is best to find a facility that your parent will be able to stay at for the foreseeable future. It is best to find out what, if any, health conditions might require your parent to leave the facility or move to a higher and more expansive level of care.

To help you choose a facility, the Alzheimer’s Association provides a list of questions to ask at CommunityResourceFinder.org/Alz/Tips – click on “Tips for choosing a residential care facility” under Housing Options.

Paying for care: The average cost for memory care in an assisted living facility is approximately $6,000 per month. The average cost increases to over $8,500 per month for memory care at a nursing home care. However, keep in mind though that the costs can vary widely depending on location and services.

Given that Medicare does not cover long-term care, most residents pay for care from either personal savings, a long-term care insurance policy or through Medicaid (if available) once their savings are depleted. If your parent is a veteran, they may be able to get funds through the Veteran Affairs’ Aid and Attendance benefit. To learn more, ask the facility director or contact the regional VA benefit office at 1-800-827-1000.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.