To our valued client:
Major changes to Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) Plans took effect on New Year’s Day 2020. Not since the Pension Protection Act of 2006 has the legal landscape of retirement planning been so disrupted. And, of course, you’ve never even heard of it. It was intentional on the government's part. This law was buried in a 1.4 Trillion Dollar spending bill that was shuffled through Congress right before Christmas.
Some things seem positive. Now you can wait until you’re 72 before you MUST take money from your Traditional IRA or 401(k). Other aspects are clearly negative, such as accelerated taxation for your beneficiaries. The bad stuff outweighs the good stuff to such an extent, that I’m calling this the New Death Tax. The Congressional Budget Office admits that billions more in tax revenues will flow to the government as the new law takes effect.
Gone are the days when your left-over IRA money could be a pension to your children. Now, most beneficiaries must cash out your retirement accounts within 10 years of your death. Accelerating the payout. Increasing the tax bracket. Fattening the tax take.
(With minor exceptions.)
Why increase the age of mandatory withdrawals to 72? Because that means more money after you die, to be taxed at the highest rates. (Am I too cynical?)
Your Tax-Advantaged Legacy Trust (TALT) lessens the impact of this law; it was designed to be flexible and it is working! But you may have questions and we continue to work on developing new options to further refine how the TALT will protect your beneficiaries.
Watch your email! We’ll share information about your new choices and an all-new IRA-focused workshop in the weeks and months to come. Since it’s the government, we don’t expect updated regulations or guidance for quite some time. But don’t worry, we are doing that for you!
If you have an insatiable curiosity about this topic or just having trouble with insomnia, here are a couple of articles about the new law:
What questions are keeping you up at night? Why stew, fret, agonize or fuss when you can always pick up the phone for us? So call at (800) 317-2812. You can either come in for a Trust Review now, or wait until some of the dust settles, the regulations are passed by the government, and we have more concrete ideas of the regulations that will be implemented.
Best Regards,
David Carrier
