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Within the 400-page Ed Slott advisor training manual, we include a basic chart that outlines the Roth IRA distribution ordering rules and the availability of those specific dollars. When presenting the material to a live audience, I always say it is my favorite page.

Question:We had a client who was 80 years old and still working when he died. He did not own more than 5% of the company. As such, he was not taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the plan at his death. Our client named his son as his sole beneficiary.

The once-per-year IRA rollover rule sounds pretty easy to understand. You may only do one IRA-to-IRA (or Roth IRA-to-Roth IRA rollover) per year (365 days). However, this rule is often misunderstood.One common confusion about the once-per-year rollover rule is whether multiple distributions or multiple deposits will trip you up.

I earn too much money and can’t do a Roth IRA. I have heard about the back-door Roth IRA strategy for those who earn more than the allowable contribution for the Roth IRA where they contribute to a traditional IRA and then roll over to a Roth IRA.

An estate can become the beneficiary of a person’s IRA in a couple of ways. First, the estate could be named outright as the beneficiary on the beneficiary form. This is not recommended. Why? One reason is that a non-designated beneficiary (like an estate), must follow certain restrictive payout rules.

Did you inherit an IRA from someone who is NOT your spouse? This is not uncommon. Maybe you inherited from a sibling or a parent or a friend. If this is your situation, proceed with caution! For nonspouse beneficiaries, a wrong move can result in disastrous consequences. So, take your time and do it right.

My biggest gripe with legislation is the same complaint held by most – the bulk of it is written in legalese – i.e., difficult-to-understand language. I am no idiot, but sometimes I sure feel dumb when I read things like the SECURE Act.

QUESTION:On September 6th in a piece titled, “Rules for Inherited IRAs that May Surprise Nonspouse Beneficiaries,” Sarah Brenner from Ed Slott and Company wrote, “If you inherited the IRA funds in 2020 or later, as a nonspouse beneficiary you will most likely be subject to a 10-year payout-period, possibly with annual RMDs during the 10-year period.”My brothers and sisters and I are non-spousal beneficiaries, and my understanding is that there is no rule or code yet that states we must take some out of the inherited IRA account each year, only that it must be drained by end of the tenth year as required by the SECURE Act. My sibling says we must take some each year. Which of us is correct? We are all under the RMD age, in our sixties and our parents passed September of 2022.

SECURE 2.0 expands qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) by allowing a one-time only QCD of up to $50,000 to a split-interest entity. As a result of this new rule, there is now a great opportunity to fund a charitable gift annuity (CGA) with a QCD.

Question:Good afternoon. I am looking for some Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) help, please.If someone does a rollover of company stock to an IRA, can she undo that rollover and then do an NUA transaction?Thanks,Alan