6 IRA Planning Tips

by | Apr 15, 2015 | Elder Care Advising, Estate Planning

Here are 6 IRA planning tips you should consider for your family:

1. Help your grandkids with their own IRA

Anyone who starts an IRA early, in their teens or 20’s, will see it grow to huge amounts by retirement. But young people often don’t have the funds to put into an IRA in the early years. The solution? If you have the means, help your grandchildren put money into an IRA as soon as they start working their first part-time job, or as soon as you can. What do I mean? If you have the means, give each grandchild with a job (they have to have income to do an IRA) $5500 with the stipulation that they put it into a Roth IRA. Even if you only do this for a few years, it will make a HUGE difference in their retirement later.

2. Use your IRA for charitable giving

Do you plan to leave money to a charity or church at your death? If so, use IRA funds to do it. If you leave the IRA to charity, there will be no tax on the IRA because the charity is tax exempt. Uncle Sam will be out of luck. How do you do this? Name a charity on your IRA beneficiary designation or consider using a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln (to direct funds to the charities you choose).

3. Explode your wealth with those unwanted RMD’s

Once you are age 70, you have to take out a minimum amount (RMD) from your traditional IRA each year. What do you plan to do with that money? Do you need it? If not, what about using it to create more wealth for your family? One option is to buy a life insurance policy using your RMD every year to pay the premium. The benefits? More money at death, plus the life insurance death benefit is income tax free! (Unlike the IRA that has a built-in tax bill for your family.)

4. Again, consider your grandchildren (and children)

Why not leave some (or all) of your IRA to your grandchildren? Worried about skipping your children? What about getting life insurance to make up the difference? The result? Save income taxes, bless the grandkids, and leave your kids tax-free life insurance funds (instead of an IRA with a tax bill).

5. Consider a trust for your IRA

Want to avoid your kids or grandkids IRA “blowout” (taking IRA quickly and incurring a lot of tax)? Leave the IRA instead to a trust, so the trustee will make sure the “stretch out” happens. Read more about “blowouts” and “stretch outs” in last week’s blog post.

6. Convert to a Roth IRA

If your family will stretch the IRA, the biggest bang is to use the Roth IRA. Convert the IRA now to a Roth, avoid the RMD’s during your life, then give your family tax free distributions for years or decades. Poor Uncle Sam will be left out! (But remember to consult your tax advisor regarding the timing and amount of those Roth conversions.)