At Forward Inheritance, we steward families throughout the entire journey of ensuring their estate is in order and the Next Generation has a solid foundation. The families we serve continue to share the horror stories of what life has been like before our service helped them (we aren’t America’s family therapist yet, but we are getting there, ha!). I am continually surprised at how many odd, non-intuitive, and expensive corners that families need to navigate.
For instance, should your IRA be in your trust? Per our friend CPA Kurt Supe, maybe, since there are issues to be wary of:
- The spousal rollover trap
- The see-through qualification
- The compressed trust tax brackets
- The old conduit trust problem
“Retirement accounts do not automatically belong in a trust just because a trust exists. They have their own beneficiary forms, their own tax rules, and their own distribution requirements.
When trust-as-IRA-beneficiary does make sense. Blended families protecting children from a first marriage. Disabled or chronically ill beneficiaries who still qualify for lifetime stretch. Minor children. Spendthrift concerns.
When it usually does not. Financially stable adult children. In those cases, naming individuals directly and using the trust only as a contingent backup is cleaner, faster, and substantially cheaper.”
Who knew? Who benefits from us not knowing? Who is looking out for these types of issues? Who is helping the family? At Forward Inheritance, we have some of the best in the business in our Neighborhood so that the family can make and save more money. Let’s help each other move our families forward…