Which Trust Is Right for You?

September 21, 2021

Everyone wins when estate planning attorneys, financial advisors and accounting professionals work together on a comprehensive estate plan. Each of these professionals can provide their insights when helping you make decisions in their area. Guiding you to the best possible options tends to happen when everyone is on the same page, says a recent article “Choosing Between Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts” from U.S. News & World Report. Which trust is right for you?

What is a trust and what do trusts accomplish? Trusts are not just for the wealthy. Many families use trusts to serve different goals, from controlling distributions of assets over generations to protecting family wealth from estate and inheritance taxes.

There are two basic kinds of trust. It can be difficult to know which trust is right for you and your family situation. There are also many specialized trusts in each of the two categories: the revocable trust and the irrevocable trust. The first can be revoked or changed by the trust’s creator, known as the “grantor.” The second is difficult and in some instances and impossible to change, without the complete consent of the trust’s beneficiaries.

There are pros and cons for each type of trust.

Let’s start with the revocable trust, which is also referred to as a living trust. The grantor can make changes to the trust at any time, from removing assets or beneficiaries to shutting down the trust entirely. When the grantor dies, the trust becomes irrevocable. Revocable trusts are often used to pass assets to adult children, with a trustee named to manage the trust’s assets until the trust documents direct the trustee to distribute assets. Some people use a revocable trust to prevent their children from accessing wealth too early in their lives, or to protect assets from spendthrift children with creditor problems.

Irrevocable trusts are just as they sound: they can’t be amended once established. The terms of the trust cannot be changed, and the grantor gives up any control or legal right to the assets, which are owned by the trust.

Giving up control comes with the benefit that assets placed in the trust are no longer part of the grantor’s estate and are not subject to estate taxes. Creditors, including nursing homes and Medicaid, are also prevented from accessing assets in an irrevocable trust.

Irrevocable trusts were once used by people in high-risk professions to protect their assets from lawsuits. Irrevocable trusts are used to divest assets from estates, so people can become eligible for Medicaid or veteran benefits.

The revocable trust protects the grantor’s wishes, if the grantor becomes incapacitated. It also avoids probate, since the trust becomes irrevocable upon death and assets are outside of the probated estate. The revocable trust may include qualified assets, like IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s.

However, there are drawbacks. The revocable trust does not provide tax benefits or creditor protection while the grantor is living.

Your estate planning attorney will know which trust is right for your situation, and working with your financial advisor and accountant, will be able to create the plan that minimizes taxes and maximizes wealth transfers for your heirs. If you would like to learn more about the different types of trusts available, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: U.S. News & World Report (Aug. 26, 2021) “Choosing Between Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts”

How to Handle an Inherited IRA

September 20, 2021

You can’t leave the money in an original IRA inherited from the deceased. There are several ways you can take the funds after inheriting either a traditional or Roth IRA. However, your options will be restricted by several factors. Note that failure to handle an inherited IRA properly can lead to a significant penalty from the IRS.

Kiplinger’s recent article entitled “I Inherited an IRA. Now What?” says you should understand what type of beneficiary you are under the new SECURE Act, what options are available to you and how they fit into your tax and investment profile.

There are several different ways to handle an inherited IRA. The first step after being left an IRA is getting the details about the account. This includes whether it’s a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Unlike Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs require the owner to take minimum withdrawals or “Required Minimum Distributions” (RMDs), when they turn 72. As a result, if the original account owner was older than 72 when they died, be certain that the RMD has been taken for the year. If not, there’s a potentially significant IRS penalty. You should also identify when the account was opened. This may exempt you from taxes later on, if you inherited a Roth IRA. It is also recommended that you verify that you are the sole beneficiary.

Spousal Heirs Can Transfer the Funds to a New IRA. Spousal heirs can transfer the assets from the original owner’s account to their own existing or a new IRA. You can do this even if the deceased was over 72 and was taking RMDs from a traditional IRA. With your existing or new account, you can delay RMDs until you reach 72. You can also complete this type of transfer with a Roth. Since these accounts don’t require RMDs, you don’t need to worry about withdrawals. This is a good option for beneficiaries who are younger than their deceased spouses and don’t need the income at that point. Transferring the funds to your own traditional IRA lets you delay taking RMDs. However, if you’d like to withdraw the funds from the new IRA before you are 59½, you’ll be subject to the 10% early-withdrawal penalty.

Spousal Stretch IRA. Spousal heirs who inherit either a traditional or a Roth IRA can transfer the assets into an inherited IRA, which is different than a spousal transfer. The original account owner’s financial institution will require you to open the inherited IRA with them, but you can also move the funds to a new institution. First, open an inherited IRA at the original owner’s institution and then open an inherited IRA at the institution to which you want to move the account. Request a direct IRA-to-IRA transfer. When titling the account, follow the format: “[Decedent’s Full Name], for benefit of [Beneficiary’s Full Name]” or “[Beneficiary’s Full Name], as beneficiary of [Decedent’s Full Name].”

Once you have a handle on the inherited IRA, you can withdraw the funds in two ways: (i) the life expectancy method is where you take annual distributions based on your own life expectancy, not the original owner’s (also known as a “stretch IRA”); or (ii) the 10-year method, where you must withdraw all funds within 10 years.

Non-Spousal Heirs Have Limited Choices. The SECURE Act of 2019 got rid of the stretch IRA for non-spousal heirs who inherit the account on or after Jan. 1, 2020. The funds from the inherited IRA – either a Roth or a traditional IRA – must be distributed within 10 years of the original owner passing away, even if the deceased person died before or after the year in which they reach age 72. There are exceptions, such as when the heir is a minor, disabled, or more than a decade younger than the original account owner. In these cases, they can withdraw the funds using the stretch IRA method.

If you’re required to take out the funds within 10 years, you don’t need to withdraw a certain amount of money each year from an inherited IRA. You can leave the funds to grow in the account tax deferred the entire time and then withdraw the funds at the end. However, if you withdraw too much in one year, it could move you into a higher tax bracket.

Lump Sum. All beneficiaries can take the funds in one large distribution, either from a traditional or Roth IRA. However, this is generally discouraged for those with traditional IRAs because they’ll have to pay income taxes on the distribution all at once and may move to a higher tax bracket.

Plan for Taxes. If you inherit a Roth IRA, you shouldn’t have to pay taxes on distributions if the original account was opened at least five years ago, or a conversion from a traditional IRA to a Roth occurred at least five years ago. Determine when the original account was opened to see if some of the distribution will be taxable. Make sure you know how to handle an inherited IRA. Talk with an estate planning attorney today.

If you would like to read more about IRAs and other retirement accounts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (Aug. 4, 2021) “I Inherited an IRA. Now What?”

Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples

September 15, 2021

Proper estate planning can help ensure that your wishes are carried out exactly as intended in the event of a death or a serious illness, says Insurance Net News’ recent article entitled “What Same-Sex Partners Need to Know About Estate Planning.” Having a clearly stated plan in place can give clear instructions and potentially avoid any fights that otherwise might occur. With estate planning for same-sex couples, this may be even more crucial.

Your estate plan should include a will or trust, beneficiary forms, powers of attorney, a living will and a letter of intent. It’s also smart to include a secure document with a list of your accounts, debts, assets and contact info for any key people involved in those accounts. This list should contain passwords for locked accounts and any other relevant information.

A will is a central component of an estate plan which ensures that your wishes are followed after you pass away. This alleviates your family from the responsibility of determining how to divide your property and takes the guessing and stress out of how to pass along belongings. A will or trust might also state the way in which to transfer your financial assets to your children. You should also make sure your beneficiary forms are up to date with your spouse for life insurance policies, bank accounts and retirement accounts.

For same-sex couples, it is particularly important to create a clear medical power of attorney and create a living will that states your medical directives, if you aren’t able to make those decisions on your own. If you aren’t married, this will give your partner the legal protection he or she needs to make those decisions. It is important for you to take time to have those conversations with your partner, so the plans and directives are clear. You can also draft a letter of intent, which is a written, personal note that can be included to help detail your wishes and provide reasoning for the decisions.

Protecting Your Minor Children. Name a legal guardian for them in your will, in the event both parents die. Same-sex couples must make sure that both parents have equal rights, especially in a case where one parent is the biological parent. If the surviving spouse or partner isn’t the biological parent and hasn’t legally adopted the children, don’t assume they’ll automatically be named guardian. These laws vary from state to state.

Dissolve Old Unions. There could be challenges, if you entered into a civil union or domestic partnership before your marriage was legalized. Prior to the 2015 marriage equality ruling, some same-sex couples married in states where it was legal but resided in states where the marriage wasn’t recognized. If you and your partner broke up, but didn’t legally dissolve the union, it may still be legally binding. Moreover, some states converted civil unions and domestic partnerships to legal marriages, so you and a former partner could be legally married without knowing it. If a former union wasn’t with your current partner, make certain that you legally unbind yourself to avoid any future disputes on your estate.

Review Your Real Estate Documents. Check your real estate documents to confirm that both partners are listed and have equal rights to home ownership, especially if the home was purchased prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage or if you aren’t married. There are a few ways to split ownership of their property. This includes tenants in common, where both partners share ownership of the property, but allows each individual to leave their shares to another person in their will. There’s also joint tenants with rights to survivorship. This is when both partners are property owners but if one dies, the remaining partner retains sole ownership.

Estate planning for same-sex couples can be a complex process, and they may have more stress to make certain that they have a legally binding plan. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney about the estate planning process to put a solid plan to help provide peace of mind knowing your family is protected.

If you would like to read more about planning for same sex couples, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Insurance Net News (June 30, 2021) “What Same-Sex Partners Need to Know About Estate Planning”

Photo by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels

Managing financial issues after death of a spouse

Managing Financial issues after Death of Spouse

August 9, 2021

Managing financial issues that arise after the death of a spouse range from the simple—figuring out how to access online bill payment for utilities—to the complex—understanding estate and inheritance taxes. The first year after the death of a spouse is a time when surviving spouses are often fragile and vulnerable. It’s not the time to make any major financial or life decisions, says the article “The Financial Effects of Losing a Spouse” from Yahoo! Finance.

Tax implications following the death of a spouse. A drop in household income often means the surviving spouse needs to withdraw money from retirement accounts. While taxes may be lowered because of the drop in income, withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s that are not Roth accounts are taxable. However, less income might mean that the surviving spouse’s income is low enough to qualify for certain tax deductions or credits that otherwise they would not be eligible for.

Surviving spouses eventually have a different filing status. As long as the surviving spouse has not remarried in the year of death of their spouse, they are permitted to file a federal joint tax return. This may be an option for two more years, if there is a dependent child. However, after that, taxes must be filed as a single taxpayer, which means tax rates are not as favorable as they are for a couple filing jointly. The standard deduction is also lowered for a single person.

If the spouse inherits a traditional IRA, the surviving spouse may elect to be designated as the account owner, roll funds into their own retirement account, or be treated as a beneficiary. Which option is chosen will impact both the required minimum distribution (RMD) and the surviving spouse’s taxable income. If the spouse decides to become the designated owner of the original account or rolls the account into their own IRA, they may take RMDs based on their own life expectancy. If they chose the beneficiary route, RMDs are based on the life expectancy of the deceased spouse. Most people opt to roll the IRA into their own IRA or transfer it into an account in their own name.

The surviving spouse receives a stepped-up basis in other inherited property. If the assets are held jointly between spouses, there’s a step up in one half of the basis. However, if the asset was owned solely by the deceased spouse, the step up is 100%. In community property states, the total fair market value of property, including the portion that belongs to the surviving spouse, becomes the basis for the entire property, if at least half of its value is included in the deceased spouse’s gross estate. Your estate planning attorney will help prepare for this beforehand, or help you navigate this issue after the death of a spouse.

It should be noted there is a special rule that helps surviving spouses who wish to sell their home. Up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of a principal residence is tax-free, if certain conditions are met. The exemption increases to $500,000 for married couples filing a joint return, but a surviving spouse who has not remarried may still claim the $500,000 exemption, if the home is sold within two years of the spouses’ passing.

There is an unlimited marital deduction in addition to the current $11.7 million estate tax exemption. If the deceased’s estate is not near that amount, the surviving spouse should file form 706 to elect portability of their deceased spouse’s unused exemption. This protects the surviving spouse if the exemption is lowered, which may happen in the near future. If you don’t file in a timely manner, you’ll lose this exemption, so don’t neglect this task. Managing financial issues after the death of your spouse can be overwhelming. Work closely with an experienced estate planning attorney who is familiar with complex financial issues related to probate.

If you would like to read more about issues related to probate, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Yahoo! Finance (July 16, 2021) “The Financial Effects of Losing a Spouse”

Roth IRA a Good Choice for Retirement

July 28, 2021

While it may seem like only the ultra-wealthy benefit from a Roth IRA, this retirement tool is an excellent tax shelter that anyone can use, reports CNBC.com in the recent article “The ultra-wealthy have made full use of Roth individual retirement accounts. Here’s how you can do the same.” One of PayPal’s founders, Peter Thiel, had $5 billion in a Roth IRA as of 2019, according to a ProPublica report. It said that he used a self-directed Roth account, which allows the owner to hold alternative assets, like shares in a private company or real estate that generally can’t be placed in a regular Roth. A Roth IRA is a good choice for retirement income.

Traditional 401(k) plans and IRAs offer a tax break, when contributions are made. Taxes are paid upon withdrawal, which is supposed to happen only after a certain age when you’ve retired. By contrast, the Roth versions of the 401(k) and IRA don’t have the tax break up front—you have to pay taxes on the money or assets when making contributions—but there are no taxes paid upon withdrawal, and there are no required withdrawals, as there are with a traditional IRA and 401(k)s.

You pay income taxes on the money placed into the account, and then it grows tax free. You can take it out anytime, as long as the account has been owned for at least five years and you are age 59½ or older. Self-directed Roth IRAs permit tax-free growth and untaxed distributions plus investments can be made that are not available in regular Roth accounts.

Theil had private company shares in his self-directed Roth IRA, before PayPal was a publicly traded company. He benefited from both timing and savvy investment skills.

A self-directed Roth IRA is generally available only through specialized custodians. Brand-name financial companies don’t offer them. The custodians that hold self-directed IRAs do not manage the account or police what investments are placed into the accounts, so you’ll need the advice of a tax-savvy estate planning attorney to be sure you are following the rules. Note that there can also be valuation issues. The value of alternative assets is not as clear as publicly traded securities. You’ll need to get the value right, so you don’t break any tax laws. Once assets are in the account, you can sell them and use the proceeds to purchase other instruments in the account, all under the same tax-free Roth protection.

Even if you don’t use a self-directed Roth IRA, the standard Roth IRA yields many benefits. We don’t know what the future tax environment will be, but tax-free withdrawals in the future, combined with high-growth assets, make the Roth IRA a good choice for retirement nest eggs.

If you would like to read more about Roth IRAs and other retirement accounts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: CNBC.com (June 24, 2021) “The ultra-wealthy have made full use of Roth individual retirement accounts. Here’s how you can do the same”

How to Distribute Inheritance to Disabled Child

July 22, 2021

A father who owns a home and has a healthy $300,000 IRA has two adult children. The youngest, who is disabled, takes care of his father and needs money to live on. The second son is successful and has five children. The younger son has no pension plan and no IRA. The father wants help deciding how to distribute 300 shares of Microsoft, worth about $72,000. The question from a recent article in nj.com is “What’s the best way to split my estate for my kids?” The answer is more complicated than simply how to transfer the stock. How do you distribute an inheritance to a disabled child?

Before the father makes any kind of gift or bequest to his son, he needs to consider whether the son will be eligible for governmental assistance based on his disability and assets. If so, or if the son is already receiving government benefits, any kind of gift or inheritance could make him ineligible. A Third-Party Special Needs Trust may be the best way to maintain the son’s eligibility, while allowing assets to be given to him.

Inherited assets and gifts—but not an IRA or annuities—receive a step-up in basis. The gain on the stock from the time it was purchased and the value at the time of the father’s death will not be taxed. If, however, the stock is gifted to a grandchild, the grandchild will take the grandfather’s basis and upon the sale of the stock, they’ll have to pay the tax on the difference between the sales price and the original price.

You should also consider the impact on Medicaid. If funds are gifted to the son, Medicaid will have a gift-year lookback period and the gifting could make the father ineligible for Medicaid coverage for five years.

An IRA must be initially funded with cash. Once funded, stocks held in one IRA may be transferred to another IRA owned by the same person, and upon death they can go to an inherited IRA for a beneficiary. However, in this case, if the son doesn’t have any earned income and doesn’t have an IRA, the stock can’t be moved into an IRA.

Gifting may be an option. A person may give up to $15,000 per year, per person, without having to file a gift tax return with the IRS. Larger amounts may also be given but a gift tax return must be filed. Each taxpayer has a $11.7 million total over the course of their lifetime to gift with no tax or to leave at death. (Either way, it is a total of $11.7 million, whether given with warm hands or left at death.) When you reach that point, which most don’t, then you’ll need to pay gift taxes.

Medical expenses and educational expenses may be paid for another person, as long as they are paid directly to the educational institution or health care provider. This is not considered a taxable gift.

This person would benefit from sitting down with an estate planning attorney and exploring how best to distribute an inheritance to his disabled child after he passes, rather than worrying about the Microsoft stock. There are bigger issues to deal with here.

If you would like to read more about inheritance and related topics, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: nj.com (June 24, 2021) “What’s the best way to split my estate for my kids?”

Photo by Meruyert Gonullu from Pexels

Who Inherits IRA if the Beneficiary Passes?

July 14, 2021

Retirement accounts need to have beneficiary designations to determine who inherits the funds when you pass. But who inherits an IRA if the beneficiary passes? Which estate would get the IRA when a non-spouse beneficiary inherits an IRA account but dies before the money is put in her name with no contingent beneficiaries can be complicated, says nj.com in the recent article entitled “Who gets this inherited IRA after the beneficiary dies?”

IRAs are usually transferred by a decedent through a beneficiary designation form.

As a review, a designated beneficiary is an individual who inherits an asset like the balance of an IRA after the death of the asset’s owner. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act has restricted the rules for designated beneficiaries for required withdrawals from inherited retirement accounts.

Under the SECURE Act, a designated beneficiary is a person named as a beneficiary on a retirement account and who does not fall into one of five categories of individuals classified as an eligible designated beneficiary. The designated beneficiary must be a living person. While estates, most trusts, and charities can inherit retirement assets, they are considered to be a non-designated beneficiary for the purposes of determining required withdrawals.

Provided there is a named beneficiary, and the named beneficiary survived the owner of the IRA account, the named beneficiary inherits the account.

The executor or administrator of the beneficiary’s estate would be entitled to open an inherited IRA for the beneficiary because the beneficiary did not have the opportunity to open it before he or she passed away.

Next is the question of who inherits the IRA from the named beneficiary if she passes before naming her own beneficiary.

In that instance, the financial institution’s IRA plan documents would determine the beneficiary when no one is named. These rules usually say that it goes to the spouse or the estate of the deceased beneficiary.

If you are interested in learning more about beneficiary designations, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: nj.com (June 1, 2021) “Who gets this inherited IRA after the beneficiary dies?”

Consider taking RMDs at regular Intervals

July 12, 2021

There have been a number of changes to the requirements for RMDs—Required Minimum Distributions—from traditional retirement accounts, says a recent article titled “2 Essential Strategies for Taking Your RMDs” from Kiplinger. In 2019, the age for RMDs was raised from 70½ to 72. In 2020, they were waived altogether because of the pandemic. Now they’re back, and you want to know how to make good decisions about them. You might consider taking RMDs at regular intervals.

Most people take the default approach, taking a lump sum of cash at the start or the end of the year. This is not the best approach. Investment markets and your own need for income are better indicators for how and when to take your RMD. If you can at all avoid it, never take an RMD from a declining market.

You can take your RMD anytime during the calendar year, from January 1 to December 31. If it’s the first time you’ve taken an RMD, you get a bonus: you can wait until April 1 of the year after your 72^nd birthday. The RMD is calculated, by dividing the account balance on December 31 of the preceding year by your life expectancy factor, based on your age. You can find it in the IRS’s Uniform Lifetime Table.

2021 distributions will be bigger, and not just because of the market’s 2020 performance. Instead, distributions will be bigger because of how the accounts are designed, with RMDs becoming a larger percentage over time. It starts as a small percentage and eventually becomes the entire account, which is then depleted. Remember, the sole purpose of the RMD is to force retirees to take money out of their retirement accounts and pay taxes on the money.

Many retirees take RMDs because they need the money to live on. Here’s where money management gets tricky. It’s far easier to take smaller amounts of money at regular intervals, kind of like a paycheck, than taking a big amount once a year. We’re creatures of habit and are used to receiving income and managing it that way.

Distributions on a regular basis also fosters a better sense of how much money you have to live on, encouraging you to create and adhere to a budget.

If you don’t need the income, consider taking RMDs at regular intervals. It’s like the opposite of dollar-cost averaging. Instead of putting money into the market in small increments over time to even out market ups and downs, you’re taking money out of the market at regular intervals. You’re not cashing out at the market’s lowest point, or at the highest. And if you’re reinvesting RMDs in a taxable account, this strategy works especially well.

If you would like to learn more about RMDs and other topics related to retirement accounts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (June 10, 2021) “2 Essential Strategies for Taking Your RMDs”

A trust is a good option when your children are minors

A Trust is an Option when Children are Minors

July 8, 2021

Let’s say that there’s a young father with a wife and young son, who owns a home and a Roth IRA account, with a few stock investments. On the stock investments, he’s filled out the beneficiary designation forms passing all his assets to his wife and son, should anything happen to him. This father owns his home is joint tenancy with right of survivorship with his wife. Does he need to set up a separate trust, if most of his assets pass through beneficiary designations? A trust is a good option when your children are minors.

Nj.com’s recent article entitled “Do I need a trust in case something happens to me?” says that leaving assets outright to a minor is typically a bad move. The son’s guardian and/or the court would take custody of the assets, both of which require significant court oversight and involvement.

The minor would also receive the assets upon attaining the age of majority, which in most states is age 18.

No one can tell what a young child will be like at the age of 18, especially after suffering the loss of their parents. Even if there are no significant issues, such as drug addiction or special needs, parents should think about what they’d have done with that much money at that age.

The best option is to leave assets in trust for the benefit of the minor son.

The trustee can manage and use the assets for the benefit of the young boy with limited court involvement.

The terms of the trust can also delay the point at which the assets can be distributed and ultimately paid over to the beneficiary, if at all.

For example, it’s not uncommon for a trust to stipulate that the beneficiary gets a third of the assets at 25, half of the remaining assets at 30 and the rest at age 35. However, other trusts don’t provide for such mandatory distributions and can hold the assets for the beneficiary’s lifetime, which has its advantages.

In some instances, the terms of the trust are included in a will. This creates a trust account after death, which is also called a testamentary trust.

If you have minor children, it is a good option to create a Trust. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney, who can assess your specific situation and provide guidance in creating an estate plan. The attorney can also make certain that trust assets are correctly titled and that beneficiary designations of retirement accounts and life insurance are correctly prepared, so the trust under the will receives those assets and not the minor individually.

If you are interested in learning more about trusts and minor children, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: nj.com (June 14, 2021) “Do I need a trust in case something happens to me?”

Retirement Assets to include in your Planning

July 1, 2021

You have spent a lifetime saving money for retirement, but which of those retirement assets do you include in your planning? Depending on your intentions for retirement accounts, they may need to be managed and used in distinctly different ways to reach the dual goals of enjoying retirement and leaving a legacy. It’s all explained in a helpful article from Kiplinger, “Planning for Retirement Assets in Your Estate Plan”.

Start by identifying goals and dig into the details. Do you want to leave most assets to your children or grandchildren? Has philanthropy always been important for you, and do you plan to leave large contributions to organizations or causes?

This is not a one-and-done matter. If your intentions, beneficiaries, or tax rules change, you’ll need to review everything to make sure your asset planning still works.

How accounts are titled and how assets will be passed can create efficient tax results or create tax liabilities. This needs to be aligned with your estate plan. Check on beneficiary designations, asset titles and other documents to make sure they all work together.

Review investments and income. If you’ve retired, pensions, annuities, Social Security and other steady sources of income may be supplemented from your taxable investments. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) from tax deferred accounts are also part of the mix. Make sure you have enough income to cover regular and unanticipated medical, long term care or other expenses.

Once your core income has been determined, it may be wise to segregate any excess capital you intend to use for wealth transfer or charitable giving. Without being set apart from other accounts, these assets may not be managed as effectively for tax planning and long-term goals.

Establish a plan for taxable assets. Children or individuals can be better off inheriting highly appreciable taxable investment accounts, rather than traditional IRAs. These types of accounts currently qualify for a step-up in cost basis. This step-up allows the beneficiary to sell the appreciated assets they receive as inheritance, without incurring capital gains.

Here’s an example: an heir receives 1,000 shares of a stock with a $20 per share cost basis valued at $120 per share at the time of the owner’s death. They will pay no capital gains taxes on the gain of $100 per share. However, if the same stock was sold while the retiree owner was living, the $100,000 gain in total would have been taxed. The post-death appreciation, if any, on such inherited retirement assets, would be subject to capital gains taxes.

Retirees often try to preserve traditional IRAs and qualified accounts, while spending taxable accounts to take advantage of lower capital gains taxes as they take distributions. However, this sets heirs up for a big tax bill. Another strategy is to convert a portion of those assets to a Roth IRA and pay taxes now, allowing the assets to grow tax free for you and your heirs.

Segregate assets earmarked for charitable donations. If a charity is named as a beneficiary for a traditional IRA, the charity receives the assets tax free and the estate may be eligible for an estate deduction for federal and state estate taxes.

Your estate planning attorney can help you understand how to structure your assets to meet goals for retirement, and to include in your planning. Saving your heirs from estate tax bills that could have been avoided with prior planning will add to their memories of you as someone who took care of the family.

If you would like to learn more about how to include retirement assets in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (May 21, 2021) “Planning for Retirement Assets in Your Estate Plan”

Category: IRA

Which Trust Is Right for You?

How to Handle an Inherited IRA

Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples

Managing Financial issues after Death of Spouse

Roth IRA a Good Choice for Retirement

How to Distribute Inheritance to Disabled Child

Who Inherits IRA if the Beneficiary Passes?

Consider taking RMDs at regular Intervals

A Trust is an Option when Children are Minors

Retirement Assets to include in your Planning

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