Financial institutions and brokerage firms occasionally recommend that client accounts be structured as joint or beneficiary-designated accounts without full consideration of the impact on the ...

A few years ago during a prior Congress and prior presidential administration, a federal law known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement or SECURE Act, became effective on Jan.

It's yet another form in that seemingly endless pile of paperwork needed to complete the application. It's usually only one page and while most clients don't seem to think about it too much, others ...

Beneficiary designations are among the most important legacy decisions you will make. A variety of financial accounts, including retirement plans and life insurance policies, allow you to designate ...

IF YOU HAVE an individual retirement account, do you recall filling out a beneficiary designation form? That’s the document that allows you to direct the IRA custodian to transfer your IRA to people ...

Most parties know the importance of saving original wills. They are executed with great formality, notarized, and regarded as the final work in distribution of property. What many, if not most, people ...

One of the biggest myths and misconceptions of estate planning is that a will controls the disposition of all one’s assets at death. This is not the case. Failing to distinguish the difference between ...

Trusts are an integral part of estate planning. But they are not always suitable beneficiaries for IRAs. senior couple showing thumb up sign while holding envelope with 'roth ira' lettering and dollar ...

As a journalist covering personal finance, one of the estate planning mistakes I see most often involves not knowing how retirement accounts get inherited. Contrary to popular misconception, they are ...