Are there any disadvantages to fully maxing out our 401k and SEP contributions each year, even if that means moving money from our taxable, non-retirement account? I can't think of any, but we've just recently left our financial planner, who was reluctant to move money from a non-retirement "bucket" to a retirement "bucket," preferring our retirement contributions to come from our employment income. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
I did a bunch of research late last year and now have a much better understanding of IRA, Roth, SEP, and 401k accounts, and of the more immediately taxable nature of income from non-retirement accounts. At this point, we'd probably put all our money into retirement accounts if we could. I'm kind of kicking myself for waiting so long to really understand the benefits; in past years, we have not always maxed out our retirement contributions, even though we had money in our non-retirement account.
Spouse is now old enough to freely access retirement accounts, so no issues about getting our hands on money if we need to. Plus we're both still working and saving.
Also -- is it a tax-loss-harvesting no-no if at the end of the year, we sell some funds at a loss, move that money into an SEP, and then buy the same funds? The point would be to contribute to the SEP, not to harvest losses, but it might end up that way. If it is a problem, any suggestions as to a solution?
Thanks for the sanity check.