Retirement changes that are coming in 2024

The new year brings with it new changes for retirement accounts. One of the big ones will be how much people can contribute. David Wright, President & Owner of Wright Financial, and Christine Benz, Director of Personal Finance at Morningstar, join Yahoo Finance to discuss the changes made for retirement accounts and how best to capitalize on these changes.

Wright comments on the new limits for retirement contributions: "With the appreciation and the income limits, there is going to be more room for capital gains, appreciated sales on capital gains for the new year. So all of those things are going to tie together for Americans to be able to capture and put away more wealth for themselves in the future."

Benz follows up giving advice on automatic investing: "One of the key things I always think about is just the virtue of putting things on autopilot if you possibly can and that is something that we have automatically if we invest in the context of a company retirement plan where the money is just coming out of our paycheck. We don't have to lift a finger and it turns out that is a great way to invest it, it is still disciplined, keeps you investing even when the market is volatile."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

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RACHELLE AKUFFO: Wages have grown this year, and that growth continues into the new year as higher minimum wages go into effect in 22 states. And starting next week, you can boost your contributions to several retirement accounts to build wealth and save on taxes.

To tell us what's changing and how we can make it work for us, David Wright, founder and President of Wright Financial Group and Christine Benz, Morningstar director of personal finance are joining us this morning. Welcome to you both. David, I want to start with you. Obviously, if you're an investor, perhaps you've seen some gains this year. What should you be aware of heading into 2024 and the changes?

DAVID WRIGHT: Well, there's increased limits. Our income tax brackets are increasing the income limits, which is going to create a lot of opportunities for Roth conversions. We're letting our clients know that since brackets are increasing the income limits, there's more Roths that can be converted next year. Obviously, there's going to be higher contribution limits to 401(k)s 403(b)s, IRAs, et cetera. So we want to take advantage of all of those changes as soon as possible in the new year.

Also with the appreciation and the income limits, there's going to be more room for capital gains, appreciated sales on capital gains for the new year. So all of those things are going to tie together for Americans to be able to capture and put away more wealth for themselves in the future.

- So Christine, I want to bring you into this in particular with regard to the increased thresholds. It sounds great. I like the sound of it personally. What are the challenges, though, that people should think about when they think about these thresholds changing for whether we're talking about 401(k)s, 403(b)s, et cetera?

CHRISTINE BENZ: Well, one of the key things I always think about is just the virtue of putting things on autopilot if you possibly can. And that's something that we have automatically if we invest in the context of a company retirement plan where the money's just coming out of our paycheck, we don't have to lift a finger.

And it turns out that that's such a great way to invest. It instills discipline, it keeps you investing even when the market is volatile. So I would say, do that with your other investment accounts as well. Do that with your IRA contributions. Rather than rushing in a contribution right before the tax filing deadline, put those contributions on autopilot. Contribute every month. It just makes it a much lighter lift.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So David, with that in mind, obviously a lot of change is coming at people. How should they prioritize which are the best ones that apply to them versus some of the ones that perhaps don't apply to them? If they're a business owner, how do they navigate all this?

DAVID WRIGHT: Well, certainly, the people that are still working are middle class Americans and upper middle class. Obviously, the 401(k) changes. And I absolutely agree with our other panelist here. Payroll deduction is king here, being able to ratchet that up for the new year.

But being mindful also that where you are in your life as far as contributing to your 401(k), IRA, or 403(b) is as important as ratcheting up how much you're putting away. Making sure that if you're within 10 years of retirement, understanding what the purpose of the building up of this cash is for. Purpose over performance right now. If you're younger than age 50, perhaps focusing more on performance over purpose, that is growth more than income.