Beneficiary Ira – What is it

A Beneficiary IRA or an Inherited IRA, as it is sometimes known, is when the account is transferred to a spouse or other beneficiary after the death of the account holder. The funds from an existing Traditional, Simple or Roth IRA are transferred into an Inherited IRA. This allows the funds to remain tax-free until the IRS requests that the funds are released.

The beneficiary has to have been named by the account holder in order to be eligible to open a Beneficiary IRA. The existing IRA is transferred into the beneficiaries name and can basically be treated as their own, if they are a spouse.

Non-spouse beneficiaries cannot treat the account as their own and cannot rollover assets into their own accounts. Similarly non-spouse beneficiaries cannot keep the original account open. The new account can be a Traditional, Roth or Simple IRA as well. They can defer distributions until it is requested that they take a Required Minimum Distribution (known as RMD). Additional contributions cannot be made to a Beneficiary IRA.

The beneficiary of an Inherited IRA is subject to certain rules regarding the new account. These are based on the type of Beneficiary IRA the person has, as well as the age of the account holder when the passed on and the kind of IRA that was inherited by the beneficiary.

New rules were introduced to help make the process of having a Beneficiary IRA easier. It used to be the case (before 2001) that the funds in the Inherited IRA had to be used up within a 5 year period. The new rules now allow funds to be distributed over a longer period of time, sometimes even decades. This is to the advantage of the beneficiary as the IRA can continue to be tax deferred.

The new rules also meant that the original account holder could pay smaller RMD’s potentially leaving a larger amount in the account for the beneficiaries to inherit. It also meant that a spouse could either use the new account for themselves or add their own beneficiaries. This would result in the beneficiaries receiving that account one the spouse had died too.

It is essential that you have the best retirement plan in place for you, as an individual. There are many kinds to choose from and choosing the best retirement plan is no mean feat. However, it is worth taking the time to plan for your retirement as the money you need to survive after you retire will not fall into your lap.

This may all seem quite confusing but it is in fact very simple. If you would like to find out more about Beneficiary IRA accounts, you can get your questions answered online. Alternatively you could speak to a financial advisor who will present the information to you in easy to understand terms.