A retirement account should protect money from taxes, not accidentally invite them in for dinner. Yet thousands of people create surprise tax bills every year simply because one small move went unchecked. A missed deadline, an incorrect rollover, or a misunderstood withdrawal rule can suddenly transform a smart savings plan into a tax headache that nobody saw coming.
Retirement accounts offer powerful tax advantages, but those advantages come with rules that demand attention. Anyone managing an IRA or a 401(k) needs to know where the traps sit, because a few common mistakes can quietly drain money from a hard-earned nest egg.
