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My mother left an IRA to a Designated Beneficiary Trust in my name. I am 61 and the trust provides...

My parents have been discussing their estate planning with me and I had a few questions regarding the annuity in...

An 85-year old man owns 2 Vanguard IRA’s–a conversion RIRA and also a TIRA which was derived from contributions and...

When it comes to estate planning, one of the primary goals is to transfer as much of a person's assets to their intended beneficiaries at the lowest cost or, in other words, by paying the least amount of tax. Today, the federal estate tax exemption is $5,340,000 per person. It is also portable (can be transferred) between spouses, giving them a maximum exemption of $10,680,000 per couple and the maximum rate is 40%. That is a far cry from where we’ve been.

When taking out a normal distribution from an IRA after age 59 1/2 do you have to pay state tax...

My mom named a look through trust as the beneficiary of her IRA. After she passed away in 2013, a...

IRS has released its annual list of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams just in time for you to try and avoid them during their peak tax season. Beware of these scams and check back here for Tax Planning Week through Friday.

My clients often list the spouse as primary beneficiary and ‘all my children in equal shares’ as the contingent beneficiary....

While Roth IRAs should ideally be used for retirement, the fact that you have unrestricted access to your Roth IRA basis allows you to take a distribution at any time for any reason. Maybe you’re planning on going back to college or graduate school, but you don’t want to go in debt to pay for it. However, if you’re planning on using your Roth IRAs to pay for higher education expenses, there is a big disadvantage you need to know about before you do so. Click for more information.

Is an RMD required in the year a spouse deceases? I have a client that lost her husband in September...