Aaron Charles Gregg

What’s Your Retirement Distribution Plan?

“Failing to withdraw a required minimum distribution (RMD) from your own or an inherited IRA by the deadline results in a big tax code penalty: 50%. That's right.”

If you were supposed to take out an RMD of $4,000 from your retirement accounts and somehow forgot to do this, you’ll be writing the IRS a check for $2,000. Ouch! This is something you can easily avoid, says Yahoo Finance’s article “Know These 3 Facts to Avoid Paying Half Your Retirement Income to the IRS.”

Most investors spend a lot of time building their retirement income accounts—their entire working life. However, there’s a second phase of retirement finances that doesn’t get quite as much attention. That’s the “distribution” phase, when the money that you put into accounts for decades needs to be taken out and used for what is ideally an enjoyable retirement.

Preparations for this phase are usually focused on where to live, how much travel you can afford, what interests you may pursue and the choices that are made regarding retirement spending.

With those choices come some fixed payments that you need to keep in mind as you budget. The IRS has rules about Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs, that are strict. While some of the rules changed as of January 1, 2020, the penalties have not. Starting at age 72, you have to take your RMDs, or pay a steep price.

Here are the main types of accounts that have RMDs: IRAs, 401(k)s, 457 plans, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, TSP, 403(b)s, and TSAs. They all require RMDs in retirement.

The first distribution must be taken by April 1 of the year following the calendar year that you turn 72. If you retire after age 72, you have to take your first RMD from your 401(k), profit-sharing 403(b) or other defined contribution plan by April 1 of the year after the calendar year in which you retire.

For subsequent years after your required beginning date, you have to take your RMD by December 31.

You don’t have to take any RMDs for Roth IRA accounts, since those accounts are funded by post-tax dollars. There are Roth retirement accounts that do have RMDs, like a Roth 401(k). Some people roll their Roth 401(k) into a Roth IRA and pay the taxes at the time of the rollover, anticipating high taxes in the near future.

If you don’t take your RMD, or don’t take a large enough distribution, the IRS penalty is 50% of the amount that was not withdrawn.

To calculate your RMD for 2020, divide your retirement account balance on December 31, 2019, by a “distribution period” factor based on your age. For example, Lisa Sue is 71 and must take her first distribution at age 72. Her year-end IRA balance for the prior year was $100,000. Her distribution factor is 27.4. Divide $100,000 by 27.4 and the amount of the RMD is $3,649.63. That’s her RMD.

Understanding the distribution phase of your retirement is as important as the savings phase. While you’re planning, don’t neglect the estate plan that needs to be updated or prepared. That includes a will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney and other documents. Talk with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a plan to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Reference: Yahoo Finance (Jan. 9, 2020) “Know These 3 Facts to Avoid Paying Half Your Retirement Income to the IRS”

Do Unmarried Couples Need Estate Planning?

“Experts say that creating a plan for what happens to your estate — regardless of how meager or massive your assets — is key for unmarried couples who want their commitment to each other protected in the event of death.”

A couple that has no intention of ever getting married should know that they won’t get the automatic rights and protections that legally wed spouses get, particularly when it comes to death. Therefore, unmarried couples must make a concerted effort to cover all the bases, says CNBC’s recent article entitled “Here’s what happens to your partner if you’re not married and you die.”

The number of unmarried couples who live together reached 18 million in 2016, a 29% increase from 14 million in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center. Among adults age 50 and older, the increase was 75% with roughly 4 million cohabiting in 2016, compared to 2.3 million in 2007.

These couples still face some key differences from their married counterparts. For example, there’s no filing federal taxes as a couple, and if an employer allows health insurance for a partner, the amount the company contributes is taxable to the employee, rather than being tax-free for a spouse.

End-of-life considerations also need attention. Unmarried couples can sign some legal documents that will dictate what happens, if one of them either becomes incapacitated or passes away, which is a type of estate plan.

If you die without a will or intestate, the state probate court will decide how your assets are distributed. A will by itself also won’t address everything. If you want to make sure your tax-advantaged retirement accounts — like your Roth IRA and 401(k) plans — go to your partner, make sure that individual is the designated beneficiary on those accounts. Even if your will says otherwise, whoever’s listed as the beneficiaries on those accounts will get the money. It’s the same for insurance policies and annuities.

If both partner’s names are on checking, savings or investment accounts, the account will pass directly to the surviving partner. However, for an account with only one partner’s name on it, ask the bank about the appropriate form to be completed, so the money is left directly to the surviving partner. This is what’s called a transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designation. Without this designation, the assets will end up in probate and distributed either in accordance with the will or intestacy state laws.

Regardless of how the mortgage is paid or whose name is on the loan, the person named on the deed is the owner. If the house in one partner’s name, it won’t automatically pass to the partner, as it would with a married couple (via joint tenancy with rights of survivorship). It would become part of the probate estate. To remedy this, you can retitle the home, so that both partners are listed as joint owners on the deed, “with rights of survivorship.” Each partner then equally owns the house and is entitled to assume full ownership upon the death of the other. Note that there could be other factors to consider before adding a partner’s name to an existing deed, such as expenses, tax implications and protection from potential creditors. Ask your estate planning or probate attorney before you make a change. A partner owning the house, could leave it to the surviving partner in the will. Remember, though, any asset passing via the will is subject to probate, which may lead to unforeseen issues.

In addition, a partner has no legal say in his or her partner’s medical treatment, if he or she is in a situation where they can’t make decisions for themselves. To give the partner that right, partners can grant each other a durable power of attorney over health care. This allows the partner to make important health-care decisions, if the one in the hospital is unable to do so. This is different from a living will, which states a person’s wishes if they are on life support or suffer from a terminal condition. This document helps guide the agent’s decision-making. If no one is named, medical personnel must follow the instructions in that document.

Likewise, partners may want to give each other durable power of attorney for finances. This would let them handle one another’s money, including accessing accounts as necessary, if the incapacitated partner could not do so. If the partners have dependents, name a guardian for them in the will. Otherwise, that decision will be left to the courts.

Reference: CNBC (Dec. 16, 2019) “Here’s what happens to your partner if you’re not married and you die”

What’s the Best Way to Take My Required Minimum Distribution?

“If you miss the deadline for taking an RMD, you’ll be hit with a tax penalty. If you’re retired or have inherited a retirement account, you must take your required minimum distributions by December 31.”

CNBC’s recent article, “These tips can help retirees make required minimum distributions easy and tax penalty free,” gives the steps to follow, so we don’t leave money on the table.
RMDs or required minimum distributions, are the minimum amount people age 70½ and older must withdraw from their retirement funds. If you’ve inherited a retirement account, you may also have to make a withdrawal. The amount you need to withdraw varies from year to year and is based on specific calculations, including what your account values were as of December 31 the prior year and your age.

The time to get started on your RMD for this year is right now, because the paperwork may take some time. You have until April 1, if you just turned 70½ this year. Let’s look at a few tips:

Get your paperwork organized. In order to know how much you have to withdraw, you have to have an accurate picture of what you own. Create a list of accounts and take an inventory first, so you know where all your retirement accounts are located.

Know what you can take from what account. If you have multiple IRAs, you can take your total RMD from any one of those accounts because of the aggregation rule. However, with multiple IRAs, you still must calculate the amount you take out based on the value of all of them. It’s that same with multiple 403(b) retirement accounts. The rule doesn’t apply to 401(k) plans. If you have multiple 401(k) accounts, you must take money from each one, and you can’t take an RMD from an IRA to satisfy a 401(k), or vice versa.

Understand the rules, if you’re still working. If you’re 70½ and still employed, you could get a break from taking your RMD in certain circumstances. Generally, 401(k) plans have a still-working rule, which stipulates that you don’t have to take the RMD until you retire. However, you can only delay the RMDs, if the plan is attached to the company where you’re currently employed. Other accounts from a previous employer are excluded, so you must still take distributions from those.

Keep an eye on any inherited accounts. If you’ve inherited a retirement account, you may have to take an RMD by the end of this year. That generally doesn’t apply if you inherited the money from your spouse, because spouses can do a rollover and keep postponing the distributions. However, if you’re a non-spouse beneficiary, you probably must take a distribution by the end of 2019. If you inherited the account in 2018, you’ll need to take your first RMD in 2019. RMDs from a Roth IRA will likely be tax-free. However, if you’ve inherited one of these accounts and you didn’t take that money out, you’ll have to pay a 50% penalty on the funds you should’ve withdrawn.

Consider giving to charity. A good way to avoid paying taxes on your RMD, is to give the money to charity. A qualified charitable distribution lets you to make donations to a charity directly from your IRA, instead of taking the RMD yourself. Therefore, if your RMD is $5,000, and you typically give $5,000 to charity each year, you can donate that money directly and not pay tax on it.

Reference: CNBC (November 29, 2019) “These tips can help retirees make required minimum distributions easy and tax penalty free”

What Don’t I Know About Retirement?

“Retirement is a topic that regularly makes headlines, and not all of them are encouraging. Americans are living longer than ever before, resulting in lengthy periods of post-career life.”
Investopedia’s recent article, “6 Surprising Facts About Retirement,” writes that if you think most people are saving more in order to prepare for their long-term needs, you’d be incorrect. The article provides us with some of the more startling truths about retirement in the U.S.
1. Retirement May Be Longer Than You Think. The average American will retire at age 66 and live until about 79. However, many will see their retirement last much longer than 13 years. A 65-year-old woman has a 50% chance of making it to age 85, and a 65-year-old man has a 50% chance of reaching age 82. This is why younger people need to plan for 20 years or more of income in retirement. For current retirees, an ultra-conservative portfolio composed solely of bonds may not give them sufficient growth, especially with interest rates so low.
2. Social Security Doesn’t Do It By Itself. Many experts suggest replacing 80% of your usual income once you hit retirement. However, for many, Social Security payments alone won’t be nearly enough to hit that target. In 2019, the average monthly Social Security benefit is just $1,461. That’s just $17,532 per year.
3. We’re Waaaay Behind on Savings. Americans are quite far behind on saving for retirement. When the American workplace turned away from pension plans, workers needed to be responsible for securing their retirement funds. We’re not doing it: according to thestreet.com, in 2019 a typical couple in the 56-to-61 age bracket without any retirement accounts had just $17,000 in savings. For many, that’s not enough to live off for a year, let alone a whole retirement. However, the mean retirement savings of working households age 32 to 61 is $95,776, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 35% of workers have $100,000 or more saved for retirement.
4. Just Half of Americans Have a Retirement Plan. Today, the median annual pension amount for the fast dwindling number of Americans who have the old-fashioned defined-benefit plan is less than $10,000, according to CNBC.com. However, many of us aren’t replacing those pensions with a contribution plan, like a 401(k). Almost half of the population (43%) has no workplace savings vehicle of any kind in 2019, according to Bloomberg.
5. Many People are Staying in the Workforce. Because so many Americans are behind in their savings, it may not be surprising that many remain in the workforce well after reaching Social Security eligibility. Almost 19% of people 65 or older were working either full- or part-time, as of 2017. Consider this: about 20% of workers overall say they’ll never be able to retire!
6. Medicare Doesn’t pay for Assisted Living. Nearly 70% of individuals who reach age 65 will require long-term care at some point. What many seniors don’t know, is that Medicare doesn’t pay for most long-term care costs. It only covers 100 days of care at a skilled nursing facility, and only if it was preceded by a hospital stay of three days or more.
Begin your analysis, by looking at the amount of money you’ll need for retirement, based on your current spending and the standard of living you want. Then look at your savings balances and how much you’re saving regularly.
Roughly 55% of Americans build their nest eggs with a regular savings account. However, that might not be good enough, because of the low interest rates. Savers should consider other investment vehicles.
Be sure that you’re maxing out contributions to your 401(k) or 403(b) if you have one, or at least, saving enough to get the company match. If you don’t have a plan through your work, or you’re lucky enough to max out your plan each year, you can supplement your savings with an IRA. For 2019, you can contribute up to $6,000 a year to an IRA, or $7,000 if you’re age 50 or older.
Reference: Investopedia (September 27, 2019) “6 Surprising Facts About Retirement”

How Can I Upgrade My Estate Plan?

“Everyone’s heard the stories of celebrities who died without a proper estate plan in place. It’s been a hot topic in the last few years with Prince and Aretha Franklin serving as unfortunate faces of the phenomenon. However, it’s not just freewheeling entertainers.”
Forbes’ recent article, “4 Ways To Improve Your Estate Plan,” suggests that since most people want to plan for a good life and a good retirement, why not plan for a good end of life, too? Here are four ways you can refine your estate plan, protect your assets and create a degree of control and certainty for your family.
1. Beneficiary Designations. Many types of accounts go directly to heirs, without going through the probate process. This includes life insurance contracts, 401(k)s and IRAs. These accounts can be transferred through beneficiary designations. You should update and review these forms and designations every few years, especially after major life events like divorce, marriage or the birth or adoption of children or grandchildren.
2. Life Insurance. A main objective of life insurance is to protect against the loss of income, in the event of an individual’s untimely death. The most important time to have life insurance is while you’re working and supporting a family with your income. Life insurance can provide much needed cash flow and liquidity for estates that might be subject to estate taxes or that have lots of illiquid assets, like family businesses, farms, artwork or collectibles.
3. Consider a Trust. In some situations, creating a trust to shelter or control assets is a good idea. There are two main types of trusts: revocable and irrevocable. You can fund revocable trusts with assets and still use the assets now, without changing their income tax nature. This can be an effective way to pass on assets outside of probate and allow a trustee to manage assets for their beneficiaries. An irrevocable trust can be a way to provide protection from creditors, separate assets from the annual tax liability of the original owner and even help reduce estate taxes in some situations.
4. Charitable Giving. With charitable giving as part of an estate plan, you can make outright gifts to charities or set up a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) to provide income to a surviving spouse, with the remainder going to the charity.
Your attorney will tell you that your estate plan is unique to your situation. A big part of an estate plan is about protecting your family, making sure assets pass smoothly to your designated heirs and eliminating stress for your loved ones.
Reference: Forbes (November 6, 2019) “4 Ways To Improve Your Estate Plan”

What Do I Need in My Estate Plan in Addition to a Will?

“This time of year, families gather to celebrate the season, offering an opportunity to air your plans for the inevitable.”
American Legion’s recent article, “Planning beyond the will” says that it’s important that your estate planning papers are synced with your wishes and the current law, but you should also look at some items outside of the fundamental documents:
Beneficiary designations. This includes life insurance policies, IRAs, current and former employer retirement plans and annuities. A beneficiary designation supersedes any instructions in a will or trust. As a result, it’s important that your designations reflect your current wishes and are synched with the rest of your estate plan.
Property title. Be sure that you know how your property is titled. If the family home is titled as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, then it will pass seamlessly to the surviving owner. There are also potential income-tax implications. Ask your estate planning attorney about this and the best way to address title concerns.
Personal property plans. This could be as simple as giving your trustee or executor the authority to make decisions, designating instructions with respect to specific property in your will or trust, or incorporating a personal property memo into your plan. The guidance you give can alleviate major problems, when you’re no longer around to settle disputes.
A continuity book. In the military, it’s common that just as you’re getting used to your responsibilities, it’s time to PCS (Permanent Change of Station) or switch jobs. Many leaders require a continuity book that helps bridge that knowledge gap, so your successor has an idea of what to do. You can adopt this practice in your personal affairs. This can include an inventory of your assets, liabilities and insurance policies. This “continuity book” should also include your social media account passwords, key contacts, funeral wishes and the location of your key estate planning documents. This is an important resource for trustees and executors, as they assume their duties.
Enjoy the holidays, and this year, work on making sure that your family spends many more happy holidays together.
Reference: American Legion (October 18, 2019) “Planning beyond the will”

What Will New Acts of Congress Mean for Stretch IRAs?

“I am concerned about the SECURE and RESA acts currently being considered in Congress. If either of them passes, my children will lose the inherited stretch IRA ability and face a much higher tax bill upon my demise.”
The SECURE and RESA acts are currently being considered in Congress. These acts may impact stretch IRAs. A stretch IRA is an estate planning strategy that extends the tax-deferred condition of an inherited IRA, when it is passed to a non-spouse beneficiary. This strategy lets the account continue tax-deferred growth over a long period of time.
If a parent doesn’t need her Required Minimum Distributions, does it make sense to do a gradual Roth IRA conversion and use the RMDs to pay taxes on the conversion? Or should the parent invest the RMDs in a brokerage account?
There are several options in this situation, according to nj.com’s recent article, “With Stretch IRAs on the way out, how can I plan for my children’s inheritance?”
Congress is considering legislation with the SECURE and RESA Acts, that would eliminate the ability of children to create a stretch IRA, one that would let them to stretch distributions from the inherited IRA over their lifetimes.
Under the proposed SECURE and RESA Acts under consideration, the maximum deferral period will be 10 years. If the beneficiary is a minor, the period would be 10 years or age 21.
The best planning strategy for a parent would depend on her overall finances and what she wants for her children’s inheritance.
The conversion to a Roth may be a good planning move, depending on her tax bracket. Putting the money in a brokerage account is also an option.
A parent may also want to think about using the RMD proceeds to purchase a life insurance policy held by an irrevocable trust for the benefit of her children.
It’s best to contact an experienced estate planning attorney, so he or she can review the details of the parent’s finances and help her choose the best options for her situation.
Reference: nj.com (October 15, 2019) “With Stretch IRAs on the way out, how can I plan for my children’s inheritance?”

How Do I Set Up a Living Trust?

“Setting up a living trust is largely the same, regardless of where you live in the U.S.”
For those who want to spare heirs the hassle and cost of the probate process, you may consider transferring your assets to a living trust.
Yahoo! Finance’s recent article, “How to Create a Living Trust in Tennessee” explains that creating a living trust is mostly the same, regardless of where you live in the U.S.
Let’s look at the basic steps you’ll need to take, with the help of a qualified estate planning attorney:
1. List the assets that should go into the trust. There are some assets, such as 401(k) plans and IRAs, which must be in an individual’s name. Other items like bank accounts, securities and life insurance policies can but don’t need to, provided you set up payable-on-death accounts or designate your beneficiaries. Usually real estate and business interests are shielded with living trusts.
2. Select the right type of living trust. If you use a revocable trust, you can remove assets or cancel the trust. With an irrevocable trust, you don’t have this luxury. If you’re not married, you can create a single trust. If you’re married, a Tennessee Community Property Trust will hold what you own jointly without having to split property or say who owns what. However, this type of trust isn’t a good option, if you’re in a later marriage with separate assets and children from previous relationships.
3. Name a trustee. The trustee will manage the trust. With revocable trusts, you can also be the trustee, or in the case of a joint trust, you and your spouse can be co-trustees. If you name yourself, name a successor trustee for when you pass away.
4. Create a trust agreement. It’s best to hire an estate planning attorney to create the trust, because it must be done correctly and legally. If the trust is found to be invalid, there may be penalties, taxes and added costs.
5. Sign and notarize the trust document.
6. Transfer property into the trust. The law states that the trust won’t be effective, unless and until property is retitled in the name of the trust.
Trusts and their rules can be complicated. Use an experienced estate planning attorney to do it right.
Reference: Yahoo! Finance (September 27, 2019) “How to Create a Living Trust in Tennessee”

What are the Advantages of a 457(b) Retirement Plan?

“Like its better-known sibling—the 401(k)—a 457(b) retirement plan is a tax-advantaged way to save for retirement. However, the 457(b) is designed especially for employees of state and local governments, as well as a few tax-exempt organizations. (If you’re employed by the federal government, however, you have access to a thrift savings plan rather than a 457(b) plan.)”
The 457(b) retirement plan has many advantages for government workers, like tax-free growth of their savings. Bankrate’s recent article, “Pros and cons of government 457(b) retirement plans,” explains how the 457(b) plan works.
A 457(b) is similar to a 401(k), in that it lets employees deposit money in a special retirement account that provides tax advantages, letting savings grow tax-free over time. You can only defer a certain dollar amount each year, and the amount you can defer is linked to the cost-of-living (indexes), like the 401(k). Similar to the 401(k) program, which has both a pre-tax and an after-tax Roth version, 457(b) plans may also offer these two versions of the retirement plan.
The major difference between the two is that the pre-tax plan lets you contribute money and take a tax deduction today, and then at retirement you’ll pay taxes when you take money out of the account. However, the Roth version of the 457(b) lets you put in money after-tax–paying taxes on the contributions today–but you won’t have to pay tax on any withdrawals at retirement.
A key difference in 457(b) plans is that 457(b) plans also may allow employees to save extra money, beginning three years before the “normal retirement age” (which is specified in the plan). In each of those three years, employees can contribute twice the normal elective deferral limit or the sum of the current year’s ceiling, plus unused portions from prior years, whichever is less.
When it comes to withdrawing funds early, 457(b) plans make it difficult to withdraw money in an emergency. A 457(b) plan can only make hardship distributions, if the participant has no other resources available. Then, if you take a distribution from the 457(b), you’d be required to stop making deferrals for a certain period of time.
In a 401(k) plan, if you needed money to buy a house or to pay tuition for a dependent, you could. However, in the 457 plan, those kinds of foreseeable withdrawals aren’t permitted. It must be something catastrophic. The distributions to workers who retire early are less taxing. Those distributions before age 59½ from 457(b) plans aren’t subject to the 10% penalty that 401(k) plans are.
Even if you have any of these accounts, you can still start an IRA, which provides more retirement benefits.
Reference: Bankrate (July 19, 2019) “Pros and cons of government 457(b) retirement plans”

Work for a Small Company? Your Employer May Be Offering a 401(k) Plan

A final rule from the Labor Department will allow small businesses to offer 401(k) plans, which may make fiscal sense, if they band together.

Businesses in different industries will have the option to team up to create a retirement plan, as long as they are located in the same region. Companies that are located far away from each other may be able to do the same, if they are in the same kind of business.

CNBC’s recent article, “Workers at small firms may get more access to 401(k) plans under new federal rule” reported that the Labor Department recently released a final rule that’s designed to make it simpler for smaller businesses to join together to offer 401(k) plans to their workers. The rule comes about a year after President Trump directed the agency to look into how to expand the availability of so-called multiple-employer plans.

The new rule takes effect September 30.

The rule relies on the availability of what the agency calls “association retirement plans.” These plans would be offered through employer groups, such as a local chamber of commerce, to its members. A plan also could be offered through specific companies that handle human resources tasks for their business clients.

About 38 million employees of small and midsize companies don’t have a workplace retirement plan, according to Labor Department officials. In 2018, 53% of workers at companies with fewer than 100 employees had access to one—as opposed to 85% of workers at larger companies.

Small-business owners have been concerned about the cost and administrative issues. These are the main reasons why they don’t offer a 401(k) plan to their employees. The thought is that allowing them to use this new strategy would reduce costs and cut down on the paperwork associated with plan administration.

The federal retirement legislation known as the Secure Act cleared the House last spring, but has stalled in the Senate. It includes a provision to let businesses team up regardless of their membership in a professional organization or their industry, so that their only commonality would be their participation in a shared 401(k) for their workers.

Only a small number of states have taken steps to address this lack of retirement plans among small businesses. In some cases, they require employers to participate., and employees are enrolled automatically in a Roth IRA, with contributions taken from their paycheck. They can opt out if they choose to, but the “default setting” is to include them in the plan, as a means of encouraging employees to save for retirement.

Reference: CNBC (July 29, 2019) “Workers at small firms may get more access to 401(k) plans under new federal rule”