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Estate planning with your IRA
It is a too little known fact that your IRA and 401(k) beneficiary designation forms trump any and all wills and trusts that you may have in place. One of the first things we do with new clients is to help gather copies of and review their beneficiary designation forms on all investment accounts. Most people are very suprised to see where their money would go if they died.
 Another important fact many do not realize is most 401(k) plans greatly limit your advanced estate planning options relative to an IRA rollover. Furthermore, even with a rollover, not all IRA custodians provide equal estate planning capabilities. We have the experience to help you screen IRA custodians for flexible beneficiary provisions, divorce and simultaneous death provisions, and other needs specific to your personal IRA strategy.
With our expertise, you can also take advantage of recent IRA guidelines that allow you to stretch IRA distribution payments out for decades – potentially benefiting you, your children and grandchildren. We will conduct a review of your current and projected financial situation and devise a plan that will help ensure that your assets are distributed to your beneficiaries as you intended in a tax and cost-efficient manner.
By starting now, we can help determine the most appropriate use of trusts, gifting programs, and other strategies to help protect your assets for future generations and help implement those strategies. With a comprehensive estate plan, you can also take steps to help reduce potential impact of taxes and other estate and settlement costs on the value of assets transferred to your heirs.
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