No one wants to face a large bill for a funeral when they are grieving the loss of a loved one. It’s far preferable, when possible, to make arrangements in advance, utilizing one or more of the following sources of funds.
If your beneficiary designations are out of date and you die without updating those designations, your assets could go the wrong people–a former spouse, for example–no matter what your will says.
Before making a decision on a beneficiary, it’s very important to check your state laws. Some states have different rules on who you can name as a beneficiary.
Non-probate assets are those assets which do not go into an estate when the owner dies.
There’s almost always a reckoning when the government proffers a tax break. So it is with individual retirement accounts (IRA)s, 401(k)s and similar accounts that investors fund with pre-tax earnings.
If you’ve ever spent time working through your estate plan, you know how important it is to select and update your beneficiaries.
Beneficiary mistakes can result in retirement plan assets being transferred to unintended beneficiaries.
Whenever you open a financial account, you’re almost always asked to name a beneficiary. Simply stated, a beneficiary of the account is someone who is entitled to the benefits of the account, typically, on the death of the account holder. If you’ve purchased life insurance, for example, you name a beneficiary who receives the benefits of the policy when you pass.
The elimination of the Stretch IRA is a game changer, especially for parents who were considering bequeathing savings in IRAs to their children.
The number of unmarried couples who live together reached 18 million in 2016, a 29% jump from 14 million in 2007. Among adults age 50 and older, the increase was 75%: About four million were cohabiting in 2016, up from 2.3 million in 2007.
