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Retirement Memo Sample

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MEMORANDUM
IRA AND QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLAN BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS AND STANDALONE RETIREMENT PLAN TRUSTS (SRTS)

INTRODUCTION
IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other qualified plans are great ways to plan and save for retirement (hereinafter, these plans are generally referred to simply as “IRAs”). For many individuals, retirement assets represent a substantial portion of their wealth. And although retirement plans were designed to permit individuals to save for their own retirement, rather than to accumulate assets to pass to younger generations, with the right planning implemented these plans can also become legacies for your beneficiaries. This memo will discuss and illustrate the power of allowing your retirement assets to grow in a tax-deferred environment and how retirement assets can be structured to provide the greatest benefit to your family.

Without completing the proper planning for IRA assets, you risk losing the ability to maximize the benefits afforded by deferring the payment of income taxes on these funds. However, by taking steps to carefully consider the ultimate disposition of these assets, you can ensure that your beneficiaries receive a “stretch” of the asset (as explained below), as well as provide them with protection against divorce, creditors and bankruptcy, and provide extra protection …show more content…

Contributions to IRAs (and any growth of those contributions) are taxed only when they are distributed from the account; then they are taxed as ordinary income. Because Congress’s intention was for IRAs to be used for people to save for their retirement (and then spend), rather than to accumulate wealth and pass it to younger generations, the rules governing IRAs require a certain amount of the accounts to be distributed to the IRA owner once he or she reaches a particular

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