Wall Street Journal: Are Inherited IRAs Protected in Bankruptcy?

 

An individual inherited an IRA and later went bankrupt. This is becoming more and more common as more beneficiaries are inheriting IRAs and blowing the money! Now the question becomes, “Are inherited IRAs protected in bankruptcy?”

As The Wall Street Journal’s Kelly Greene writes:

“Retirement funds, including regular IRAs, generally are protected under federal bankruptcy law, says Jeffrey Levine, a certified public accountant and IRA technical consultant at Ed Slott and Company in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

But IRAs that people inherit are another story. Courts in different parts of the country are split on whether they should be protected or not.”

Click here and get through the pay wall to read Greene’s entire story on the issue.

This case highlights a bigger issue: that of beneficiaries not being able to hold on to money that was saved for a lifetime. It demonstrates how those who earned and saved for retirement are much more prudent about money than those who didn’t earn the funds they inherited. The money doesn’t mean as much to those who inherited it.

 

 

Receive Ed Slott and Company Articles Straight to Your Inbox!
Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

 

Content Citation Guidelines

Below is the required verbiage that must be added to any re-branded piece from Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC. The verbiage must be used any time you take text from a piece and put it onto your own letterhead, within your newsletter, on your website, etc. Verbiage varies based on where you’re taking the content from.

Please be advised that prior to distributing re-branded content, you must send a proof to [email protected] for approval.

For white papers/other outflow pieces:

Copyright © [year of publication], [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] Reprinted with permission [Ed Slott and Company, LLC or IRA Help, LLC – depending on what it says on the original piece] takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For charts:

Copyright © [year of publication], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted with permission Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information.

For Slott Report articles:

Copyright © [year of article], Ed Slott and Company, LLC Reprinted from The Slott Report, [insert date of article], with permission. [Insert article URL] Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this article.

Please contact Matt Smith at [email protected] or (516) 536-8282 with any questions.