Estate Planning Weekly

Retirement accounts are often very misunderstood. Dealing with how to incorporate them in your estate plan can seem very difficult. Here is some basics, but you really need to speak to a professional about your particular circumstances.  Don't Title Them Into Your Trust You have your Trust and now you are working on funding it. Your attorney (or online service) told you to put all of your accounts in the name of your Trust. Hold on, don't do that with your retirement accounts. Retirement accounts are treated differently when it comes to taxes; they are also exempt for most collection actions. If you change the ownership of your retirement accounts that will trigger a tax and you'll loose that collection exemption. If someone tells you to change the name on your retirement accounts...get a second opinion before you do anything. Primary Beneficiary If you're married, 9 times out of 10 your should name your spouse as the primary beneficiary. Inheritance of a retirement by a spouse retains the exemption as if