Why It’s Not Only Those Over 70½ Who Are at Risk
Retirees of any age with large IRAs must understand that their IRAs can be hit with estate and income taxes when they die. And...
How to Work With Non-spouse Beneficiaries
Non-spouse beneficiaries cannot do IRA rollovers as per IRC Section 408(d)(3)(C). Nor can they use the 60-day rollover rule. However, they can possibly move...
Income in Respect of a Decedent (IRD)
Understanding the tax deductibility of income in respect of a decedent (IRD) is gaining significance as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement. Many parents...
Protect the IRA Value
Life insurance
Earlier, we showed how a large IRA in a significant estate can be burdened with an 86% combined tax (federal income tax, state...
The Bankruptcy Law
The Bankruptcy Abuse Protection and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) simultaneously increased, in some cases substantially, the creditor protection available to retirement accounts...
Basic Retirement Account Rules Under Bunkruptcy
Under the new rules of BAPCPA, virtually all types of retirement accounts are now exempt assets in bankruptcy proceedings. This was accomplished by adding...
IRA Asset Wills
Funds in your IRAs pass outside of your will and are distributed according to beneficiary-designation forms that you fill out when you open the...
What is the Estate Tax?
The estate tax is a tax on accumulated wealth. So if you die and you are considered wealthy (by the estate tax rules then...
Why Be Concerned Since the Estate Tax is Supposed to Disappear?
That is not a bet you should make. For even if the tax goes away, the income tax “step-up-in-basis” provision for the most part...
Properly Naming Beneficiaries
The Stretch IRA
The stretch IRA is the ability of the named beneficiaries to spread required post-death distributions over their life expectancy according to the...