Barron’s has an insightful article that echoes my concerns with the SECURE Act (see Podcast Episode #33) quoting friend and retirement expert Ed Slott. Bottom line: Roth IRAs and life insurance can help you keep more of your money in the family.
Let’s face it, when your kids inherit your IRA they will do so at the apex of their earning years, when tax rates are likely to be much higher than they are today, and at a time in their lives when they can least afford to pay the tax. When the SECURE Act passes (and it’s not if but when) your non-spouse beneficiaries will be required to spend down those inherited IRAs over 10 years, not over their life expectancy.
Take a $1 million IRA, for example. If it’s growing at 6.5% per year, your children would have to realize over $125,000 per year of taxable income over that 10-year time frame. Keep in mind, that money will be piled on top of all their income and they’ll pay taxes on those IRA distributions at their highest marginal tax rate. Given the size of each distribution, that could easily bump them up one to two tax brackets. Given the fiscal path of our country and what that means for the future of tax rates, your children could very easily spend 50% of their inheritance on taxes!
All the more reason to explore strategies today to get those highly taxable IRA’s repositioned to tax-free by way of Roth Conversions and life insurance. Do the shifting preemptively now, on your own terms, so that your children won’t be forced to pay taxes on their inheritance on the IRS’s terms.
Also, a few other items:
The Volatility Shield is now available on audible here!
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If you are a financial advisor, you can watch the Power of Zero documentary for FREE right here. It’s now available to stream on Amazon, Google Play and iTunes! You can also gift a viewing to a client by going to reelhouse.org and select the “gift” option at checkout.
Don’t forget that you can get bulk discounts for The Power of Zero book at thepowerofzerobook.com!
You can also get bulk discounts for Look Before You LIRP at lookbeforeyoulirp.com