1. Maximize Your Savings by Contributing to Your IRA Today

Are you looking for ways to build your retirement savings? One way is to make regular contributions to your IRA. You have until April 18, 2011 to make your 2010 IRA contribution of as much as $6,000.¹ At the same time you can make your 2011 contribution of an additional $6,000¹â€”allowing a year or more of additional growth potential on your contribution.

Contributing to your IRA offers a number of compelling advantages, including:

• Your earnings have tax-deferred growth potential.
• Your contributions may be tax-deductible (subject to IRS eligibility rules).
• You have access to a wide array of investment options.

2. Simplify Your Retirement Plan Through Automatic Contributions

Would you like a simplified way to make your annual IRA contributions? Through our Funds Transfer Service you can set up an automatic IRA contribution schedule. It’s a fast, free and flexible service that enables you to make your IRA contribution electronically from accounts at other financial institutions without the need to write checks, buy stamps or make trips to the mailbox.

You can choose to set up a one-time transfer for this year or establish a recurring schedule to make your annual IRA contribution every year. Once you decide on the date and amount, your funds will be systematically transferred on your specified schedule.

3. Plan for Tax-Free Income With a Roth IRA

Do you want to leave a tax-free legacy to your heirs? Then a Roth IRA should be an important component of your retirement strategy. Roth assets will one day provide tax-free income to you in retirement—or a tax-free inheritance for your named beneficiaries.²

Roth assets enjoy tax-free growth potential, and withdrawals are typically tax-free as well.² Overall, a Roth IRA offers you tax advantages, income planning flexibility and wealth transfer opportunities. For example:

• Tax advantages—Diversifying your retirement assets across accounts with different tax treatments may help you reduce your exposure to future tax increases and provide greater flexibility for managing your income stream in retirement. The combination of a tax-free Roth IRA with a tax-deferred account, like a 401(k) or a traditional IRA, and a taxable account, such as a brokerage account, may allow you to better manage your taxes in retirement.
• Income planning flexibility—With a traditional IRA, at age 70½ you are required to stop contributing and must begin taking minimum distributions—even if you’re still employed and have earned income. With a Roth, however, there is no contribution cutoff, provided income requirements are met, and no rule about when you must begin tapping into the account. The assets in a Roth account have the potential to grow as long as you want, allowing you to tailor withdrawals to actual income needs—or to forgo withdrawals in any given year.
• Wealth transfer advantages—If the assets in your IRA are not needed to fund your retirement, a Roth IRA can be an effective wealth planning tool, since heirs can enjoy continued asset growth potential without paying taxes when they withdraw the assets.

To help you determine whether a Roth conversion is right for you, talk to your tax advisor regarding your general tax situation and ask your Financial Advisor to prepare a customized Roth Conversion Analysis.

4. Ensure That Your Savings Pass to Your Heirs by Reviewing Your Beneficiaries

Have you experienced any changes in your life over the past year? If so, now is a good time to ask your Financial Advisor to conduct a beneficiary review on all your accounts to help ensure that the savings you’re working hard to build will be transferred to your loved ones according to your wishes.

It’s important to remember that beneficiary designations on an IRA supersede a will. If you converted to a Roth IRA your beneficiary designations may not have carried over—so check with your Financial Advisor to make sure your information is on file and up to date.

5. Manage Your Retirement Accounts With Ease Through Consolidation

Do you want greater control over your retirement savings? It’s important to review all of your assets with your Financial Advisor, a professional who can develop a retirement strategy specific to your needs. Consider consolidating multiple accounts at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to help ensure that your savings are in line with your overall retirement strategy.

It’s especially important to consider consolidating your retirement accounts if you recently changed jobs or your employer has merged with another company or gone out of business. One retirement account is much easier to keep track of than several.