A running log of substantive content and infrastructure changes on RothIRAHub. Entries are newest first. Typo fixes and pure formatting cleanups are not logged. Factual and interpretive corrections to existing content are additionally recorded in the corrections log.

2026-05-02

Self-directed Roth IRA reference added. Published Self-Directed Roth IRA: Permitted Investments, Prohibited Transactions, UBIT, a primary-source-only walkthrough of the legal framework around alternative-asset Roth IRAs — real estate, private placements, precious metals, tax liens. The article is built around three statutory landmines: IRC §4975 prohibited transactions (with the §4975(e)(2) full disqualified-persons enumeration and the Peek v. Commissioner self-dealing precedent); IRC §408(m) collectibles ban (with the precious-metals exception, fineness standards, and custodian-possession requirement); and IRC §§511–514 UBIT/UDFI tax on debt-financed income (with a worked example showing how a 70% mortgage on IRA-owned real estate generates UDFI taxable at trust rates topping 37%). The article includes an explicit editorial caveat that the SDIRA marketing industry skews toward upside narratives; the downside — entire IRA disqualified on January 1 of the year a prohibited transaction occurred — is real, statutory, and unforgiving. For most savers, mainstream Roth IRAs at $0-fee brokerages are the right fit; SDIRAs make sense only for a narrow set of expert investors with deep alternative-asset conviction. The article notes the IRC §514(c)(9) leveraged-real-estate exemption that solo 401(k) plans receive but IRAs do not — meaningful for self-employed readers weighing both vehicles.

529 Plan vs. Roth IRA comparison guide added. Published 529 Plan vs. Roth IRA: How to Choose (and When to Fund Both), a side-by-side reference covering contribution limits, income limits, qualified-expense rules, state tax incentives, the SECURE 2.0 §126 / IRC §529(c)(3)(E) rollover bridge, and the both-strategy for families saving for education and retirement. The article documents the One Big Beautiful Bill Act expansion of §529 (effective July 4, 2025) that doubled the K-12 cap to $20,000 per beneficiary, expanded qualified K-12 expenses to include curriculum materials, tutoring, standardized test fees, and educational therapies, and added postsecondary credentialing programs (WIOA, apprenticeships, state-licensed certifications) to the eligible-expense list — with an explicit warning that many states have not conformed to the federal changes. Companion changes: a new "529 Plan vs. Roth IRA" Continue Reading card on the Contributions hub, plus a cross-link from the existing 529-to-Roth Conversion reference.

Roth IRA loan reference added. Published Can You Borrow From a Roth IRA?, a statutory reference that leads with the answer most consumer finance articles bury: federal law (IRC §408(e)(2) and §4975) prohibits an IRA from lending to its owner; pledging an IRA as collateral triggers a deemed distribution under §408(e)(4) on the pledged portion. The article then walks through the legitimate alternative — Roth IRA contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free at any age under the §408A(d)(4) ordering rules — and quantifies the long-term cost of using contributions as a cash source (the worked example shows a $15,000 contribution withdrawal at age 28 forfeiting roughly $280,000 of future Roth balance at 7% real returns). 4-mechanism comparison table covers contribution withdrawal, 401(k) loan (under IRC §72(p), available only to qualified plans not IRAs), the IRA collateral trap, and the 60-day rollover misconception (clarifying via Bobrow v. Commissioner and IRS Announcement 2014-32 that the rollover provision is not a loan substitute). Companion cluster integration: new Continue Reading card on Withdrawals; inline cross-links from Roth IRA Withdrawal Rules and Early Withdrawal Penalties.

Region-aware cookie consent. The Site now applies the consent model that matches the law of the country your request originates from. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, Google Analytics is not loaded until you give explicit consent via the cookie banner (the existing Accept all / Reject all / Customize controls). In the United States and the rest of the world, analytics is enabled by default with a slim opt-out notice on first visit; you can opt out at any time from the cookie settings link in the footer or the manage button on the notice. The Global Privacy Control browser signal continues to be honored in all regions as a binding opt-out. Google Analytics 4 remains configured with IP-anonymization, no Google Signals, no advertising features, and 14-month event-level retention. Country is determined at the network edge from your IP address and is not stored or logged. Both the Cookie Notice and the Privacy Policy have been updated to describe the new model.

2026-05-01

Trump Accounts canonical guide added. Published Trump Accounts: A Plain-English Guide for Parents, covering the new tax-favored Traditional IRAs for U.S. citizen children created by §70204 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, July 4, 2025) at IRC §530A. The article walks through the $5,000 annual contribution cap, the federal $1,000 seed for children born 2025–2028, the 0.10% expense-ratio investment requirement, the age-18 transition into a regular Traditional IRA, and the explicitly-permitted Roth IRA conversion path under IRS Notice 2025-68 §III.G. Worked example: Maya at 18 with a $182,000 balance, comparing single-year vs. multi-year conversion ladders. Two sibling FAQ articles ship alongside: Can a Trump Account be converted to a Roth IRA? and Trump Account vs. Roth IRA: Which is better for a child?. The Roth IRA in Congress tracker now includes the OBBBA §70204 enacted entry, and the TrumpIRA.gov disambiguation table has been corrected to clarify that a Trump Account is a designated §408(a) Traditional IRA — not a custodial savings account, not a Roth IRA, and not the same program as TrumpIRA.gov.

2026-04-30

TrumpIRA.gov canonical guide added. Published TrumpIRA.gov: A Plain-English Guide in response to the Executive Order signed April 30, 2026 directing the Treasury Department to establish a federal portal listing low-cost IRAs (≤0.15% expense ratio, no minimum contribution or balance) from private financial institutions. The portal is scheduled to launch January 1, 2027. The article covers what the program is and is not (it does not create a new statutory IRA type — accounts found through it are still regular Roth or Traditional IRAs), how it interacts with the federal Saver's Match (SECURE 2.0 §103, IRC §6433) effective tax year 2027, and how to distinguish it from the separate Trump Accounts program enacted under OBBBA. The Roth IRA in Congress tracker now lists the Executive Order; the Contributions hub links to the new article from its Continue Reading grid.

2026-04-26

2026-figures sweep — worked-example backdoor and 5-year-rule scenarios. Targeted YMYL audit of generic worked examples that quoted $7,000 as the current Roth IRA / backdoor contribution amount when 2026's limit is $7,500. Earlier passes (commit 8bc1c60 and the phase-1/2 fact-check) caught explicit "current limit" callouts; this pass focused on backdoor-mechanics scenarios where $7,000 read as the 2026 amount-in-flight without saying so explicitly. 14 fixes across 7 pages: 5-Year Rule (Sophie 2026 conversion, "fund again" hypothetical, abstract-amount illustration); 5-Year Rule After 59½ (abstract-amount illustration); 5-Year Rule for Conversions (backdoor pro-rata example with $100,000 traditional-IRA balance, plus the §408A(d)(3)(F) discussion of non-taxable-basis carve-out); Saver's Match (prose and JS plain-English template "your $7,000 / $8,000 limit" → "$7,500 / $8,600"); Can You Transfer Traditional IRA to Roth?, How to Avoid the Pro-Rata Rule, and What Is Basis in an IRA? (each had the same $93,000 + $7,000 worked example; rebased to $92,500 + $7,500 to keep clean 7.5%/92.5% pro-rata math). The "convert $7,500 / $107,500" backdoor example also recomputes the taxable percentage from 93.5% to 93%.

2026-04-24

Fact-check phase 2. Closed out the six deferred items from phase 1's "what this session did NOT do" catalogue: (1) every worked-example arithmetic recomputed site-wide, (2) structured data diffed against visible body content for consistency, (3) state-tax claims verified against primary state statutes / DOR guidance, (4) external citations (Clark v. Rameker, Bobrow v. Commissioner, Rev. Proc. 2020-46) verified against primary sources, (5) calculator behavior tested against 2026 ground-truth constants, (6) "Last reviewed" dates refreshed on every substantively revised page. Approximately 45 additional findings; 39 discrete fixes + 48 date substitutions across 27 files.

Critical corrections in this pass.

  • Pennsylvania Roth conversion treatment corrected. Prior language (in Conversion Rules, Conversion Tax Implications, and the Conversion Cost Calculator) asserted that PA taxes pre-59½ Roth conversions "as compensation." Per PA DOR REV-636, Pennsylvania does not tax traditional-to-Roth conversions at any age (cost-recovery method applies to later earnings distributions). Age-gating JS logic removed from the calculator; state-rate note revised.
  • FAQ structured data on Roth 401(k) Rules updated to match body on SECURE 2.0 §325. The visible body was corrected in phase 1, but the structured-data FAQ answers still asserted Roth 401(k) RMDs at age 73 and cited "eliminate future RMDs" as a rationale for rolling to a Roth IRA. Both corrected to match the body.
  • Fee Drag Calculator default corrected. Fee Drag Calculator still defaulted to annualContribution: 7000 (2025 limit) despite prose referring to 2026; corrected to 7500.
  • IRMAA 2026 Tier 1 threshold precision. Conversion Cost Calculator and Conversion Planner had IRMAA thresholds stored as $109,000 / $218,000; corrected to $109,001 / $218,001 to match CMS's published bracket-edge (IRMAA fires when MAGI exceeds the threshold).
  • Provisional-income formula for Social Security taxation corrected on Withdrawal Rules (Elena example) and Inherited Roth Taxes (Patricia example). Provisional income uses 50% of Social Security, not the full amount. Patricia's taxable SS percentage re-derived from the correct §86 formula at 82.5% (was 60%).
  • Wyoming IRA creditor-protection claim corrected. Roth IRA Rules previously labeled Wyoming "among the weakest" for IRA creditor protection. Wyo. Stat. §1-20-110 is actually a solid exemption; the prior characterization was wrong and is now removed.
  • Pennsylvania inheritance-tax rates table corrected. Inherited Roth Special Situations now accurately shows 0% to spouses (and parents of minor decedents), 4.5% to lineal ancestors and descendants, 12% to siblings, 15% to all other heirs, per 72 P.S. §9116.
  • Minnesota "retirement income deduction" claim corrected on Conversion Tax Implications. MN does not offer a general retirement-income deduction; narrow subtractions for Social Security and certain public pensions exist but do NOT cover IRA/Roth-conversion income.

Worked-example arithmetic corrections (19 fixes), including: Asha 25-year backdoor projection ($187,500 in contributions → $474K FV at 7%, not $675K); Alyssa Roth 401(k) accumulation labeled 6% growth but math required 7%; Rachel post-59½ withdrawal ordering-rules ($0 tax, not $2,000); Rachel two prior-year contributions totaling $15,000 (not $14,000); Marcus pro-rata rounding $560/$6,940; Maya inherited 9-year growth $919K (not $895K); James RMD taxed at 24% federal + 5% state = $10,900 (not $8,900); tax-torpedo marginal 45.7% (not 46.25%); and several compound-growth corrections on Inherited Roth IRA, Inherited 10-Year Rule, Custodial Roth IRA, and Withdrawal Age. Robert's bridge-strategy balance also reframed with an explicit growth assumption and a caveat about contribution-basis exhaustion.

External citations verified against primary sources (no site changes needed): Clark v. Rameker, 573 U.S. 122 (2014) — citation and holding accurate; Bobrow v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2014-21 — citation accurate; Rev. Proc. 2020-46 12-reason self-certification list — all twelve items on 60-Day Rollover match the primary text.

Structured data housekeeping. "Last reviewed" dates refreshed across 24 pages; breadcrumb URLs in structured data corrected on Corrections and four other pages where escape characters had previously broken parsing. Breadcrumb hrefs on Roth 401(k) Rules, Rollover Rules, and 401(k) → Roth IRA Rollover corrected to point through their parent Conversions hub.

Items still deferred for CPA primary-source sign-off: full parse of IRS Notice 2025-67 PDF (Notice summary verified; some figures like §415(c), QCD, §603 threshold need primary-text confirmation); Rev. Proc. 2025-32 Table 1 for LTCG caps, AMT, kiddie-tax, HoH brackets (currently NEEDS-VERIFICATION in calculator JS); CMS 2025 IRMAA Tiers 2–5 (only Tier 1 verified); PA CPA sign-off on the rewritten PA conversion language; search-index.json regeneration.

2026-04-23

Full site-wide fact-check pass (second pre-launch audit). Independent re-verification of every dollar figure, statutory cite, phase-out band, bracket math, RMD factor, and worked example against primary IRS sources (IRS Notice 2025-67, Rev. Proc. 2025-32, TD 10001, TD 10007, SECURE 2.0 Act as finalized). Approximately 140 distinct findings surfaced across 60+ pages and 17 calculators; substantially all corrected in this release.

Critical corrections.

  • Roth 401(k) RMD myth purged. Removed claims across Roth 401(k) Rules and 401(k) → Roth IRA Rollover that still treated Roth 401(k) lifetime RMDs as current. SECURE 2.0 §325 eliminated them effective 2024 for all balances — no $5M threshold. Rollover rationales rewritten around investment flexibility and fees rather than RMD avoidance.
  • 20% mandatory withholding scope corrected on Rollover Rules and 60-Day Rollover. §3405(c) 20% mandatory withholding is qualified-employer-plan only; IRA indirect distributions fall under §3405(b) optional 10% default (waivable). Corrected in comparison table, body text, and FAQ.
  • SIMPLE IRA 2026 age-50 catch-up corrected from stale $3,500 to $4,000 across SIMPLE IRA Rules (12 locations). Per IRS Notice 2025-67, SIMPLE age-50 catch-up rose from $3,500 (2025) to $4,000 (2026). Combined totals updated to $21,000 (standard + catch-up) and $22,100 (enhanced + catch-up). The 2-year clock framing also corrected to run from the participant's first SIMPLE contribution under §72(t)(6), not from plan establishment or termination.
  • Conversion tax-engine calculators updated from stale 2025 brackets to 2026. Conversion Cost Calculator and Conversion Planner migrated their tax brackets, standard deductions, IRMAA thresholds (Tier 1 $109,001 single / $218,001 MFJ), and LTCG caps to Rev. Proc. 2025-32 values.
  • Growth-projection calculator defaults corrected to 2026 limits: Growth Projection now defaults to $7,500 annual contribution and $1,100 catch-up (was $7,000 / $1,000).
  • Roth-vs-Traditional RMD age derived from birth year per SECURE 2.0 §107 (was hardcoded at 73, ignoring the age-75 cohort born 1960+).
  • Conversion-rules and Conversion-tax-implications bracket math rewritten end-to-end for 2026 (per Rev. Proc. 2025-32): single 22% bracket $50,400–$105,700, MFJ 22% $100,800–$211,400, etc. Multiple worked examples had been using 2024 bracket thresholds with 2026 dates.
  • Inherited Roth 10-year rule clarification propagated. Added the critical caveat — no annual RMDs in years 1–9 for inherited Roth (owner has no RBD under §408A(c)(5)) — to Roth IRA RMD Rules, Start, Statistics, and other pages where the distinction from inherited Traditional was under-emphasized. Also corrected year-10 deadline arithmetic (2024 death → Dec 31, 2034, not 2035).
  • TD 10007 release date corrected from September 16, 2024 to September 16, 2025. TD 10007 is the final regulation package for SECURE 2.0 §603 (high-earner Roth-only catch-up mandate).
  • §415(c) 2026 limit corrected from stale $70K/$71K to $72,000 in Roth 401(k) after-tax discussion.
  • Expats page: MFJ phase-out corrected from invented $246K–$266K to the actual $242K–$252K; FEIE updated from 2024 $126,500 to 2026 $132,900; §219 citation corrected from §219(c) to §219(f)(1) for the compensation-definition rule.
  • Glossary: IRA age-50 catch-up corrected from $1,000 to $1,100 per SECURE 2.0 §108 (first-ever indexation, effective 2026). §219(c) → §219(f)(1) citation fix for the FEIE compensation trap.
  • Withdrawal-rules: removed incorrect claim that the pro-rata rule governs Roth IRA distributions. Roth IRAs use the ordering rules (§408A(d)(4)); the pro-rata rule under §408(d)(2) applies only to traditional/SEP/SIMPLE.
  • Withdrawal-age: stale age-72 RMD references corrected to 73 (born 1951–1959) / 75 (born 1960+) per SECURE 2.0 §107 as finalized in TD 10001.
  • Early-withdrawal-penalty: contradictory statements about the 5-year rule gating the FTHB penalty exception resolved (it does not); birth/adoption exception correctly reattributed to SECURE 1.0 §113 (2020), not SECURE 2.0 (2023); reservist active-duty threshold confirmed as 179 days per §72(t)(2)(G).
  • Roth-ira-rmd: $25% excise explained correctly with SECURE 2.0 §302 history (50% → 25%, or 10% with timely correction); James/Julie worked-example math made internally consistent; missing key caveat about no annual inherited-Roth RMDs years 1–9 added.
  • Inherited-roth-rmd: Rachel worked-example RMD factors corrected to 2022-revised Single Life Table values (age 55 = 31.6, subtract-one method); starting RMD corrected from $13,513 to $12,658.
  • Statistics page: super catch-up description corrected — it is greater of $10,000 indexed or 150% of standard catch-up, and applies to 401(k)/403(b)/457/SIMPLE only (not IRAs). The 2026 figure is $11,250 for 401(k)/403(b)/457 and $5,250 for SIMPLE. RMD-age framing updated to birth-cohort form.
  • 529-to-Roth: "Step 5: File Form 8606" heading corrected to "Step 5: Report on Forms 1099-Q and 5498 (NOT Form 8606)" — Form 8606 is not used for §529(c)(3)(E) rollovers.
  • Contributions / Spousal-IRA / Backdoor-Roth: stale 2025 figures ($7,000 cap, $14,000 spousal combined, $23,500 401(k), 32% bracket at $300K single) all corrected to 2026 values ($7,500, $15,000, $24,500, 35% at $300K single per Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
  • Withdrawal-home-purchase: removed duplicated content block (lines ~716–773 duplicated lines ~658–714).
  • State tax claims softened where over-generalized. Illinois correctly described as exempting qualified retirement distributions under 35 ILCS 5/203. Pennsylvania's treatment of pre-retirement-age Roth conversions clarified as compensation-taxable. Mississippi clarified as exempting qualified retirement income only once recipient has separated from service and reached qualifying age.
  • IRS tracker: added missing TD 10007 (2025-09-16), IRS Notice 2025-67 (2025-11 release for 2026 COLAs), and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments including OBBBA amendments) — the three most consequential 2025 releases for the 2026 tax year.

Methodology. Fresh end-to-end audit — not relying on the April 18 pass. Four parallel deep reviews covered contributions/conversions, withdrawals/5-year/inherited/RMDs, rollovers/special accounts, and all 17 calculators. Findings cross-checked against IRS Notice 2025-67, Rev. Proc. 2025-32, TD 10001, TD 10007, and SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. Any figure flagged as still needing verification is held for CPA review before launch.

2026-04-18

Pre-launch fact-check. Completed a site-wide cross-check of every dollar figure, phase-out band, and statutory citation against 2026 IRS releases (Notice 2025-67 / Rev. Proc. 2025 tables), SECURE Act 2.0 provisions (especially §§103, 107, 126, 302, 603), and Treasury Decision 10001 (July 2024 final inherited-IRA regs). Corrected two worked examples (Robert on Roth 401(k) Rules, IRMAA brackets on Roth Conversion Rules).

Legal compliance. Published Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Cookie Notice, and Legal Disclaimers at /about/. Publisher metadata across the site now reflects the legal entity (Certified SysAdmin LLC, Kansas, formed 2018-10-25). Deployed a GPC-honoring cookie consent banner site-wide, with analytics held until consent is granted (GA4 Consent Mode v2).

Site origin

RothIRAHub's article archive, calculator suite, and design system were built and validated in the weeks leading up to the 2026-04-18 fact-check pass. Every dollar figure on the site at that point was reviewed against the 2026 IRS baseline (Notice 2025-67, Rev. Proc. 2025-32, SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, TD 10001, TD 10007). Editorial governance — including this changelog, the corrections policy, and editorial guidelines — was published before launch and remains the framework for ongoing maintenance.

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