Choosing Your Beneficiaries

Who should I choose as a beneficiary to inherit my IRA or 401(k)? We’ll answer that and steps you can take to see that they do.

Here’s a simple financial question many people ask: “Who should I choose as my beneficiary?” You may wonder about this as it relates to your IRA account, or your 401(k), life insurance policy, or savings accounts.

You may be able to answer such a question quickly and easily.

Or you may be saying, “You know… I’m not totally sure.”

Whatever your answer, it is smart to periodically review your beneficiary designations.

Your choices may need to change with the times.

When did you open your first IRA? When did you buy your life insurance policy? Was it back in the Eighties? Are you still living in the same home and working at the same job as you did back then? Have your priorities changed a bit since then – perhaps more than a bit?

While your beneficiary choices may seem obvious and rock-solid when you initially make them, time has a way of altering things. In a stretch of five or ten years, some major changes can occur in your life – and they may warrant changes in your beneficiary decisions.

In fact, you might want to review them annually.

Here’s why: companies frequently change custodians when it comes to retirement plans and insurance policies.

When a new custodian comes on board, a beneficiary designation can get lost in the paper shuffle. If you don’t have a designated beneficiary on your 401(k), the assets may go to the “default” beneficiary when you pass away, which might throw a wrench into your estate planning.

How your choices affect your loved ones.

The beneficiary of your IRA, annuity, 401(k) or life insurance policy may be your spouse, your child, maybe another loved one or maybe even an institution. Naming a beneficiary helps to keep these assets out of probate when you pass away.

Beneficiary designations commonly take priority over bequests made in a will or living trust.

For example, if you long ago named a son or daughter who is now estranged from you as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, he or she is in line to receive the death benefit when you die, regardless of what your will states.

Beneficiary designations allow life insurance proceeds to transfer automatically to heirs; these assets do not have go through probate.^1,2

You may have even chosen the “smartest financial mind” in your family as your beneficiary, thinking that he or she has the knowledge to carry out your financial wishes in the event of your death. But what if this person passes away before you do?

What if you change your mind about the way you want your assets distributed, and are unable to communicate your intentions in time? And what if he or she inherits tax problems as a result of receiving your assets? (See below.)

Read this: How to Avoid or Overcome Life Insurance Fraud

How your choices affect your estate.

If you’re still wondering who you should choose as a beneficiary, Virtually any inheritance carries a tax consequence. Of course, through careful estate planning, you can try to defer or even eliminate that consequence.

If you are simply naming your spouse as your beneficiary, the tax consequences are less thorny. Assets inherited from a spouse aren’t hit with estate tax, as long the surviving spouse who inherits them is a U.S. citizen.³

When the beneficiary isn’t your spouse, things get a little more complicated for your estate, and for your beneficiary’s estate.

If you name, for example, your son or your sister as the beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, the amount of those assets will be included in the value of your taxable estate. (This might mean a higher estate tax bill for your heirs.)

And the problem can persist: if your non-spouse beneficiary inherits assets from a 403(b) or a traditional IRA, for example, those assets will usually become part of his or her taxable estate, and his or her heirs might face higher estate taxes down the line. Your non-spouse heir might also have to take required income distributions from that retirement plan someday, and pay the required taxes on that income.⁴

If you designate a charity or other 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as a beneficiary, the assets involved can pass to the charity without being taxed, and your estate can qualify for a charitable deduction.⁵

Are your beneficiary designations up to date?

Don’t assume. Don’t guess. Make sure your assets are set to transfer to the people or institutions you prefer. Or if you’re still wondering who you should choose as a beneficiary in general, I have to say my answer is the same.

Let’s check up and make sure your beneficiary choices make sense for the future. Just give us a call or contact us. We’d be happy to help you.

Click Here to Request a Physician Financial Planning Consultation

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

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