Thanks to new IRS rules, your beneficiaries who receive your IRA after your death may now “stretch out” their taxed required minimum distributions over their own life expectancies, rather than yours. This means that your IRA money can compound income tax-free for a much longer time…and can literally grow into millions of dollars!!!
For example, if your child is age 50 when he inherits your $200,000 IRA--and that money is growing at 8% and your child only withdraws the RMD--at age 80, your child will have withdrawn a total of $700,000 and the account value will still be $300,000, (which can continue to grow tax-free and be passed to your grandchildren and future generations). Your $200,000 IRA turned into $1 million dollars! The above example is based upon an IRA or company plan with a value today of $200,000. You can only imagine the power of the compound income tax-free “stretch out” of your IRA or company plan assets that are now valued in excess of $200,000.00!
Understanding the IRA Inheritance Stretch Out
The stretch out is NOT automatic!You must do proper planning in advance to ensure the stretch out for your beneficiaries. If your beneficiaries do not comply with the IRS rules and regulations they can blow the income tax stretch out, resulting in a huge financial loss for your family. Many beneficiaries do not understand the tax and asset protection benefits of the stretch out, and they end up withdrawing the entire IRA after your death. When your beneficiary withdraws the entire IRA, he or she will generate a tax bill. Because that tax is not due until April 15th of the following year, the funds are often spent and the beneficiary does not have the money to pay the tax bill!
Even if your beneficiaries are smart enough to comply with the IRS stretch out rules, your beneficiaries are still exposed to several threats which include:
- Your beneficiaries’ poor spending habits. Creditors and lawsuits may grab all of your inherited IRAs and company plans!
- Your beneficiary’s spouse taking half (or more) of your inherited IRAs and company plans in a divorce. (Keep in mind that the divorce rate in Missouri is over 50% and that this big pile of inherited money may become a divorce incentive!)
By using a specially designed IRA Inheritance Trust®, you can ensure the maximum tax-deferred stretch distributions while at the same time providing a high level of asset protection for your IRA beneficiaries, helping you provide a legacy of lifetime income for your loved ones.
Here are some of the benefits of using a specially designed IRA Inheritance Trust®:
- Stretch out the IRA payments (maximize the compound income tax-free growth) over your beneficiaries' own life expectancies, rather than the life expectancy of an older beneficiary;
- Insulate IRA beneficiaries from lawsuits, divorces, and creditors;
- Allows IRA funds to pass estate-tax free;
- Create a legacy for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren so that many years after your death, they are still receiving a check every year with your name on it!
Problems with Naming Your Existing Revocable Trust as a Beneficiary
Your Revocable Trust could be required to withdraw ALL of the IRA funds in 5 years and will not be allowed to use any of the beneficiaries' life expectancies to stretch out the required minimum distributions. In addition, your Revocable Trust may not protect the IRA assets from lawsuits, creditors, and divorces. By having an IRA Inheritance Trust,® you can resolve these serious problems.
Supercharge Your IRA Today
If you are interested in supercharging your IRA and you have an IRA or company retirement plan fund in excess of $200,000, please give us a call.