Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map

by SLOTT, ED

• ISBN13: 9780345494566
• ISBN10: 0345494563
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2007-12-26
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

This is the same diagnostic system I use with my own clients and with the financial advisors I train. So, going through it will be like having me sitting beside you, whispering in your ear, guiding you every step of the way." from Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map Corporate pensions are disappearing. Social Security is in trouble. And the sizable postwar generation is reaching retirement age. With the futures of millions of Americans at stake, Ed Slott, the country's foremost retirement planning advisor, now offers expert advice on weathering the perfect storm of financial instability that looms on the horizon. Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map, Slott's most essential and accessible book yet, provides clear step-by-step directions through the highways and byways of IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other major accounts. In five helpfully focused sections, Slott combines crucial facts with interactive checklists and questionnaires (those he uses with his own clients) to teach investors and beneficiaries alike the best way to save and to maximize an inheritance. Inside you'll discover My Account Inventory: an overview of every retirement savings account you own, whether you're thirty or sixty-fivefrom what it is and where it is to who gets it and how, plus where to put important data for easy access and where to store your essential documents (hint: not in a safe-deposit box) The Account Owner's Care Solution: how to properly fill out retirement account beneficiary forms so that whatever amount of money is left in your account after you've fully enjoyed retirement will go to whomever you choose and not to relatives who suddenly pop up out of nowhere The Account Beneficiary's Care Solution: what to do when you inherit so that you won't lose any of the tax benefits and other opportunities your benefactor has created for you, or make a mistake that could wipe out an inherited fortune that took years to build up The Special Issues Care Solution: how to handle the out-of-the-box issues that could affect you or your beneficiaries (e.g., life events such as divorce or incapacity; tax issues for unmarried partners; decisions about trusts) The Follow-up Care Solution: how to keep your planning on track and make adjustments when circumstances change, and how to determine whether your professional retirement advisor is really up to the task of preserving and protecting your money Plus: the most up-to-date information on tax laws, including the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which provides major new retirement incentives that you can take advantage of Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map is an indispensable planning solution that is sure to become the standard how-to on a complex subject that is becoming relevant to more people every day. From the Hardcover edition.

Author Biography

Ed Slott is a nationally recognized retirement account expert and a professional speaker at conferences nationwide. He hosts www.irahelp.com, which provides retirement resources for both consumers and professional advisors. He created Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group, an exclusive registry of financial advisors. Slott is the author of Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune and The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It. He publishes “Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor,” a monthly newsletter for financial professionals. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Money, and USA Today, and has appeared on all major networks. He lives on Long Island.


From the Hardcover edition.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	p. ix
Introduction: The Long, Happy Life of Your Retirement Savings	p. xiii
My Account Inventory	p. 1
General Information-Each Owned Account	p. 8
General Information-Each Inherited Account	p. 10
Summary Information-All Owned/Inherited Accounts	p. 13
The Account Owner's Care Solution	p. 15
My Beneficiary Form Checklist	p. 19
My Custodial Agreement Checklist	p. 29
My Stretch Opportunity Checklist	p. 37
My Retirement Assets and Estate Plan Checklist	p. 45
My RMD Calculations Checklist	p. 55
My Rollover/Lump-Sum Decision Checklist	p. 65
The Account Beneficiary's Care Solution	p. 79
The Nonspouse Beneficiary's (an Individual) Checklist	p. 83
The Spouse Beneficiary's Checklist	p. 95
The Multiple Beneficiaries' Checklist	p. 107
The Successor Beneficiary's Checklist	p. 117
The Tax Breaks for Beneficiaries Checklist	p. 127
The IRD Checklist	p. 137
The Special Issues Care Solution	p. 149
The Naming a Charity-As-Beneficiary Checklist	p. 153
The Naming a Trust-As-Beneficiary Checklist	p. 165
The Disclaimer Planning Checklist	p. 179
The Divorce Checklist	p. 193
The Early-Distribution Exceptions-72(t) Payments Checklist	p. 203
The Early-Distribution-Other Exceptions Checklist	p. 215
The Tax Breaks for Lump-Sum Distribution Checklist	p. 227
The Incapacity Checklist	p. 243
The Same Sex and Unmarried Couple Checklist	p. 253
The Alternative Investments and Prohibited Transactions Checklist	p. 261
The Roth IRA Conversion Checklist	p. 275
The Follow-Up Care Solution	p. 291
My Year-end Checklist	p. 295
My Advisor Checkup Tool	p. 303
Single Life Expectancy Table	p. 309
Uniform Life Expectancy Table	p. 311
Joint Life Expectancy Table	p. 313
Retirement Planning Resources for Consumers and Financial Advisors	p. 333
Index	p. 337
Acknowledgments	p. 349
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