Options in Case of Death of RRIF and IRA Account Holder With Spouse as Beneficiary

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Remember that the government only represents about 30% of our retirement income, the company retirement pension plan offers another 30 % and many of us do not have one. It is up to individuals to invest wisely short and long term in order to make up for the short fall if he or she would like to live comfortably after retirement without giving up some retirement plans. In this article, we will discuss options in case of death of RRIF and IRA account holder.

I.RRIF account with the spouse is the designed beneficiary, she can
a) The RRIF payments will be paid to the surviving spouse, who becomes the successor annuitant.
b) Upon the death of both spouses, the market value remaining of the RRIF is passed on to the family's beneficiaries.


II. IRA account holder with spouse as beneficiary
A. Account holder under 70 ½ years old
1. Spouse transfer
a) The IRA account can be transfer the assets into spouse existing or new IRA and IRA asset continues to grow with tax deferred.
b) Withdrawn can be made any time but a penalty will apply to withdrawals made before spouse reach age 59 ½.
c) If the spouse is under 59 ½ withdrawn will be subject to the same distribution rules, she cannot take distributions without paying the 10% early withdrawal penalty.

b) Lump sum distribution
i) All assets are cashed out at once and pay income taxes on the distribution.
ii) The inherited spouse ill not pay the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
c) Inherited IRA-5 year rule
i) Asset transfer to spouse name.
ii) Money available after 12/31 of the fifth year after the year in which the account holder died.
iii) Tax will be paid on all distributions and 10% penalty do not apply.
d) Inherited IRA life expectancy method
i) Asset transfer to spouse name.
ii) Assets must be withdrawn no later than 12/31 of the year IRA account holder would have reached 70 ½ .
iii) Annual distributions are spread over the beneficiary’s single life expectancy.

B. Account holder over 70 ½ years old
a) Spouse transfer
i) Assets are transferred into spouse IRA and assets continue growing tax-deferred.
ii) withdrawals made before spouse reach age 59 ½, penalty of 10% is applied.
b) Lump sum distribution
i) All assets are cashed out at once and pay income taxes on the distribution.
ii) The inherited spouse ill not pay the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
c) Inherited IRA-5 year rule
i) Asset transfer to spouse name.
ii) Money available after 12/31 of the fifth year after the year in which the account holder died.
iii) Tax will be paid on all distributions and 10% penalty do not apply.
iv) Assets remainding continue growing tax-deferred for up to five years.
d) Inherited IRA life expectancy method
i) Asset transfer to spouse name.
ii) Assets must be withdrawn no later than 12/31 of the year IRA account holder would have reached 70 ½ .
iii) Annual distributions are spread over the beneficiary’s single life expectancy determined by beneficiary age.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page:

http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/
http://financialinvesting09.blogspot.com/