After nearly forty years of work, Ed Lyon had a healthy TIAA retirement account through his employer, the University of Chicago. The respected urologist wanted his account to go to his 36 grandchildren. After seven years, the funds still have not been distributed. The trustee says TIAA has told them the proper paperwork was not […]
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2025 Required Minimum Distribution Deadline is Near – What You Need to Know Right Now
This is the time of year to start planning for RMDs unless you are taking them automatically. If you haven’t taken an RMD in 2025 and don’t need funds to cover living expenses, you may want to wait until December. That’s because if your RMD covers your entire tax bill, you can avoid quarterly estimated […]
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What are the New IRA and Retirement Saving Rules for 2024?
If your New Year’s resolutions included increasing your retirement savings efforts in 2024, there are a few changes to rules about IRAs, 401(k)s, and even 529 College Savings Plans you’ll want to know about. Contribution limits for 2024 have gone up. Annual contributions for IRAS in 2024 are now $7,000, up from $6,500 in 2023. […]
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SECURE 2.0 Opens Door for Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (“QLAC”)
Back in the spring, in a rare show of bipartisan action, the House and Senate passed a law intended to give Americans an incentive to save for retirement. The bill received over 400 votes in the House and over 80 in the Senate. The bill, dubbed SECURE 2.0, is a follow-up to the SECURE Act. […]
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IRS Actuarial Tables Updated, Retirees Can Keep More in their IRAs
It has been 20 years since the IRS last updated its actuarial tables – the ones used to indicate how much taxpayers must take from their retirement accounts. For the first time in many years, retirees can keep more money in their tax-deferred accounts starting at age 72. The new tables reflect a longer lifespan, […]
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The House passed “SECURE 2.0’ on March 29 – Now It’s Up To the Senate
The other day, we sent out information about the SECURE Act and your estate plan. Now the law is on the verge of changing again. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954), known as the SECURE Act 2.0, was approved in the House on March 29 with the most bipartisan approval in recent memory […]
Continue reading…Should You Change Your Estate Plan Because of the SECURE Act?
Here’s another reason estate planning is not a one-and-done event. For most people, life is constantly changing. But the laws around estate and tax planning are also changing. Starting in 2022, a new rule, part of the SECURE Act of 2019, may affect estate plans from 2022, especially for those beneficiaries of an IRA or […]
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SECURE Act 2.0 and Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs)
The SECURE Act 2.0 continues to be revised, and it’s likely to dominate the House Ways and Means Committee ahead of the midterm elections. It seems likely that the retirement proposal may be combined with some of the expired parts of the 2017 tax law, creating a tax package acceptable to both sides. But the […]
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Football’s Hall of Fame and Estate Law Changes Both Moving to the End Zone
The Pro Football Hall of Fame recently announced the finalists for the Class of 2022, and it occurred to me that estate law legislation is a lot like the Pro Football HOF. The list is announced, some fall by the wayside, but eventually, fifteen names make it and the number of bronze statues in Canton, […]
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Why it’s Time to Convert Mega-IRAs to Mega-Roth IRAs
Congress is in session, with Democrats working to create a social policy plan with a $3.5 trillion price tag. Where’s the money coming from? CNBC reports that a new type of required distribution from individual retirement plans, based on the account’s value and not the owner’s age, is on a discussion list. Specifics are meager, […]
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