Naming beneficiaries is the easiest way to make sure your loved ones receive your retirement account with the least hassle ...

Barclay Palmer is a creative executive with 10+ years of creating or managing premium programming and brands/businesses across various platforms. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a ...

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She ...

Quick Read A 52-year-old inheriting a $640,000 traditional IRA and waiting to withdraw it all in year 10 will pay roughly ...

Most Americans believe their will distributes their estate, but that's not the case with retirement accounts, life insurance, and more.

Do yourself a favor: Check the heirs named on your IRA or 401(k) retirement plans. Then check your parents’ accounts. A lot is riding on these designations, and it’s easy for life to outrun planning ...

Congress changed the rules for when beneficiaries must take money from inherited IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts. Here’s how to avoid the most common traps.

A man we will call Robert spent 18 years believing his $1.4 million IRA would go to the family he built in his second ...

The costliest mistake people make with their IRAs doesn’t involve how they invest their funds or even their savings strategy. No, the single greatest blunder often goes undetected because, as many no ...

Some financial products like life insurance or tax-advantaged retirement accounts require you to name one or more beneficiaries. However, that’s not the case with many assets. For instance, you can ...

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts override your will when it's time to determine who inherits your funds. Many people forget to update beneficiary forms, which leads to unintended ...