Estate Planning

Many people periodically update their wills or other estate plans but don’t update who will receive distributions from their retirement plans (such as IRAs and 401(k)s) upon their deaths. Every year you should review your entire estate plan, and the review should include retirement plan “beneficiary designations” to make sure they aren’t outdated. The following…

When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). While a 401(k) provides protections for a surviving spouse, an IRA does not.

Many people are not prepared for the shift from employee to retiree. Uncle Sam has strict rules on when you can and, later, must begin withdrawing funds from tax-deferred retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs. Here’s a rundown of the basic rules, which changed significantly as of January 1, 2020 (see below).  Keep in mind that whatever…

Deciding which type of life insurance to purchase can be a confusing process. There are two main types of insurance: term and permanent. These two main alternatives differ on how long you are covered and whether or not the policy includes a cash value.

For a variety of reasons, people sometimes want some or all of their assets to pass directly to specific individuals upon their deaths, outside of probate.  One way to accomplish this is to set up a “payable on death” (POD) account for money in a bank account or a “transfer on death” (TOD) account if funds…

When two or more individuals own property — whether it’s a condominium, a home, or a piece of land — the relationship between the owners is very important. The form of ownership of the property affects how property is transferred to someone else. It is important to make sure you have the right form of…