Estate Planning

Is Your Advisor IRA Savvy?

By Gregory Herman-Giddens

Last week I attended a presentation by Ed Slott, CPA, America's foremost IRA expert.  A couple of years ago I participated in an extensive two-day training with Slott, and found him to be both informative and entertaining.  One word of wisdom from Slott - check with your retirement plan custodian to review your beneficiary designations!  Often these are outdated, incorrect, or even missing.

The Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) and other rules for IRAs and qualified plans (such as 401(k)s) are complex and require constant study to stay current.  The truth is that very few advisors, whether they are attorneys, CPAs or financial planners, are fully aware of the rules.  So, if you have an IRA or other retirement account over $100,000, make sure that you find an advisor who is an IRA expert.  Failing to plan properly could cost you or your family thousands of dollars in extra income taxes or even unnecessarily subject the IRA to the claims of creditors.

Full post as published by North Carolina Estate Planning Blog on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).