Wake up: it's December!  Just a month to go until 2010.  While there are plenty of reasons to be excited for the new year, retirement planners are probably most looking forward to a highly anticipated rules change in the Roth IRA conversion market (quite an exciting crowd, indeed).  Specifically, the removal of the conversion restriction is getting the group downright giddy.

Since the Roth IRA was created back in 1998, the ability for upper income taxpayers to participate has been extremely limited.  However, come January 1, any taxpayer may choose to convert his or her regular IRA or 401(k) into a Roth IRA.  The previous $100,000 income cap will disappear.  There's even more good news: you can spread the taxes due on conversion out over two years.  Learn about 2010 Roth IRA conversions.

Today is Green Friday, a day aptly named for one of the most profitable days of the year for retailers. After sitting around watching football and eating turkey yesterday, many Americans celebrate day two of the potential four-day weekend by waking up before dawn to take advantage of some fairly compelling sales.

My take: it you need the item, don't need the sleep, can save a ton of money, have a nice time. If you don't meet all three requirements, press the snooze button and increase your retirement savings.

This post when live at a quarter to five in the morning. What were you doing at that hour?

If you're going to see any relatives over 70 1/2 this week (for example, at a family gathering tomorrow), you can remind them there are no required minimum distributions necessary for 2009. Ordinarily, folks over 70 1/2 must begin taking money out of their qualified retirement plans, such as their IRAs or 401(k)s. Furthermore, they must continue doing so each year. However, due to the stock market free-fall of late 2008 and early 2009, Congress passed a one-year exemption from the requirement so that the elderly wouldn't have to sell their shares while prices were down.

In 2010, required minimum distributions come back, so this appears to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for those not needing the money, to keep it in their retirement accounts, tax-deferred, just a little longer.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I'm already looking out for you. After discussing the weather, the kids, your boss, and the weather again, you're going to need something to talk about with those people (technically, family) while the turkey is still not ready.

Why not bring up the question of how much money you need to retire? It should start a pretty good conversation. Answer here first, then note the different opinions: