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.
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.
By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF®IRA AnalystFollow Us on X: @theslottreport The Ed Slott team answers thousands of IRA and work plan questions...
If ever I was traveling from Los Angeles to Atlanta, I would choose a direct flight with no layovers. I want the most efficient route to my destination. Point A to Point B. Take off, land. Assuming no difference in ticket price and all things being equal, if another LAX to ATL itinerary included a stop in, say, Chicago, would there be any reason to take it? Why pass through another airport in another city when I can fly direct?
The lunacy of IRA beneficiary payout rules continues to boggle the mind. As I guide advisors through the options available to their clients, various nuances present one unique scenario after another. Did the original IRA owner pass away before or after the establishment of the SECURE Act? How old was the person when they died? Who was the beneficiary? Is this a successor beneficiary situation? Ultimately, by following the individual fact patterns, definitive answers materialize.
QUESTION:
Hello! I recently came across one of your articles and decided to reach out to you in hopes of getting some clarification re: the Secure Act 2.0 and distributions as a qualified public safety employee. In a nutshell, I am a 17-year career firefighter for a county government. With the new Secure Act 2.0, it seems as though I can take distributions after 25 years of service, OR age 50, whichever comes first, without penalty. If this is true, would I be eligible to begin taking distributions at age 47, without penalty?
When an IRA or retirement plan owner reaches a particular age, that account owner typically must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs.) The RMD is calculated based on the year-end account balance divided by a life expectancy factor. Of course, there is a parade of variables to consider, including:
As already-complicated IRA rules spiral further into an abyss of confusion, it comes as no surprise that irregularities exist. Up is down and left is right. Green means stop, red means throw your hands up in exasperation.
Question:
Greetings,
If I have the beneficiaries on my IRA listed as my wife (50%) and two children over 21 (50%), is my wife still able to move her half of the IRA into her existing IRA when I am gone? Or does having the adult children as partial beneficiaries inhibit her ability to do a spousal rollover to combine it with her existing IRA?
