The Secure Act and your Estate Planning

Planning for retirement and estate planning are important at any age. That is why the Estate Planning attorneys with Althauser Rayan Abbarno want our clients to have up-to-date information.  The recently passed, SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) makes changes (some retroactive) to some distributions from IRAs and 401(k) plans.

Plan Ahead for Inherited IRAs

Before the Secure Act, if you inherited an IRA from someone other than your spouse, you were generally required to take distributions from that account, but you could stretch out those payments over your entire life.

Under the new law passed December 20, 2019, if an IRA owner dies in 2020 or after, the account’s beneficiaries must take all of the money out of the inherited IRA within 10 years after the year of the death. (Some eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs), including spouses and minor children, are exempt from this rule.)

If you inherit a Roth IRA, there is less concern — everything that comes out of a Roth IRA is tax-free. But with a traditional IRA, you must pay income tax on any distributions in the year you take the money out.

For more information, contact the estate planning attorneys with Althauser Rayan Abbarno in Centralia or Olympia at (360) 736-1301.

Retroactive Effect of the SECURE Act

There are some retroactive effects of the SECURE Act. In the case of a participant who died prior to 2020 and left an IRA to a designated beneficiary, on the death of the designated beneficiary, the new 10-year payout rule will now apply.

For example, assume a mother died prior to 2020 and left her IRA to her adult son. The son started a 34-year payout based on his life expectancy. The son dies in January 2020, only 12 years into the payout period. His adult daughter is the successor beneficiary. Even though there are 22 years left in the original payout period, the daughter will be subject to the new 10-year payout period, and the entire amount of the IRA must be distributed to her by Dec. 31, 2030. Under the old rules, the daughter would have been able to stretch out the payments for the remainder of the original 34-year payout period.

For more information, contact the estate planning attorneys with Althauser Rayan Abbarno in Centralia or Olympia at (360) 736-1301.

It is now 72

The SECURE Act replaces age 70 ½ with age 72 as the age that triggers Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from retirement accounts, such as traditional IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLEs, SARSEPs, 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans.

For more information, contact the estate planning attorneys with Althauser Rayan Abbarno in Centralia or Olympia at (360) 736-1301.

Penalties!

The annual Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) is mandated by law; there are heavy financial penalties for failing to take the RMD on time. The penalty (an excise tax) is 50 percent of the amount you should have withdrawn but did not. For example, if you missed your RMD of $10,000, you owe the U.S. Treasury $5,000. There is a 50% penalty, which can be waived by the IRS if the beneficiary submits a Form 5329 and provides evidence of reasonable cause.

Call Althauser Rayan Abbarno and your CPA

There is a lot more to the SECURE Act that needs to be understood beyond this discussion.  This article does not constitute legal or tax advice for your specific situation.

If you or someone you know has questions about estate planning, call Althauser Rayan Abbarno at (360) 736-1301 for a consultation in Centralia or Olympia. Our estate planning attorneys will work with your CPA and financial planners to provide the best results for you and you family.