Timely and FREE Inherited IRA Help and Information for Estate Managers

Welcome!

Inherited IRA account holders and beneficiaries searching the internet for free help may easily get conflicting information and outdated data or outright -- wrong advice that may only make things worse.  Some will get the sales "sell up" all because you respond.  A trusted and respected long term advisor is ready to take your call about your Inherited IRA (Beneficiary IRA) situation or respond to your email to HELP you RIGHT NOW!  No tricks or games.  Just read some CLIENT TESTIMONIALS, to guage my skills and services and why clients who find me -- keep me for decades!    

I am M.D. Anderson, a nationally known and published inherited IRA financial consultant in Chandler, Arizona. My firm does Inherited IRA consulting and estate related tax consulting for clients in Arizona as well as throughout the United States. (And for U.S. citizens living in foreign countries)  This is my 37th year of providing multiple financial services to my clientele.  

People who meet with me live or via SKYPE, hire me on the spot when an IRA problem exists.  I've been called a "saver of money", "financial angel", even "an answer to prayer"  over the years in my client work. (I am sure my IRA clients' former advisors names for me would not be publishable without blushing...)

Believe me, I am none of that -- just a smart guy who knows more than your current advisors about Inherited and Self-Directed IRAs, and how they relate to living trusts and the tax code. You should know I am "well connected" with some of America's top legal and tax advisors -- also experts and well versed on Inherited IRAs.  

With my advisory team assembled, I can take on the largest IRA cases out there and in almost every case, rescue the money from instant or short term taxation.  (Noting that first... we rescue you from bad advice)  

Warning: The Government wants to take over your IRA...

What's HOT in Inherited IRA Tax News?

Read All 2012 - 2013 IRA Updates Now!

Latest News:  The 2014 budget wants to force your Inherited IRA into 5 year taxation!

Have a ten million dollar IRA problem? 

I'm the one you need to call. 

(DON'T WORRY!  We take consulting clients with IRA accounts

as low as $50,000)

I practice in 5 separate financial disciplines:

1. Accountant:  Estate Tax preparation and Inherited IRA consulting. (Most States)

2. AZCLDP: Certified legal document preparation (Arizona) and paralegal to an International law firm. (worldwide)

3. Realtor:  Professional licensed Realtor and IRA/Estate consultant inTempe, Arizona.

4. Insurance Brokerage Firm:  Life-health-annuity insurance sales and consulting in Arizona and Iowa, and other states from time to time.  

5. Wealth Conversion Consultant:  Hard asset consulting and sales of investment real estate (Arizona and by referral nationwide), precious metals in coins and bullion (Nationwide), and colored diamonds (Worldwide).

It's true. My current occupations along with being a former Mortgage Officer and former Securities and Registered Investment Advisor Representative, gives me a 360º viewthat few advisors can give in your situation. (and causes about 60+ hours of continued education school to attend each year)

Professional help available right now to avoid needless taxation of your Inherited IRA

"I have helped save my clients countless millions of dollars from needless taxation due to bad advisors and bad advice on inherited IRA accounts."

M.D. Anderson, AZCLDP, Accountant, Realtor

To date, since starting my Inherited IRA consulting division way back in 1998 -- I have helped save my clients countless millions of dollars from needless taxation due to bad advisors and bad advice on inherited IRA accounts.

Sadly, the bad advisors were many times formerly admired and trusted by your deceased parent or loved one. Your guard can easily be down if a large Inherited IRA account is left to you and you are given advice by some of these folks who mean well -- but don't really have a clue just how difficult it is to discern the proper steps to preserve IRA money after death so it doesn't get instantly taxed. Or, taxed on a much faster schedule due to mistakes, misdeeds, or advisory malpractice that frankly, I see on every inherited IRA case I work on now.

Whatever you do, avoid these mistakes on your  Inherited IRA

THESE ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES I SEE ON INHERITED IRA ACCOUNTS

First, many financial advisors will tell you lump sum taxation is necessary upon the death of an IRA owner, when in fact -- most times it is not. But the human element of grieving, or just the stress of estate management can leave beneficiaries vulnerable. You may not know the right questions to ask before signing paperwork that is not in your best interest. That inherited IRA paperwork, which is most often "wrong" when first sent out, can tax the money instantly.

Second, custodians sometimes tell large IRA account beneficiaries that they will need to just stay on the same Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) schedule with their inherited IRA, as the deceased was on.  That makes for a real easy succession of keeping the money under management or "in house". But, in almost every case, it isn't true! That means instead of resetting mortality "age" to YOUR birth date - if you are younger, you will have to draw money out and tax it faster than what the IRS requires. Believe it or not, we find numerous cases where the death benefit hasn't been paid and the inherited IRA client had died years before. A recent case was with a west coast client on retainer with our firm. Seems Metropolitan Life's best job of consulting after the father in this case died was to tell the sole beneficiary of the inherited IRA that he had five (5) years to start drawing money. This is complete malpractice as ANY good inherited IRA consultant knows once RMD's start - the five year rule dies too and is never applicable again!!!

Thirdly, you have to get a handle on the currently allowed concept of stretching an inherited IRA out as far as possible. RMD's run 2-6% depending on the beneficiaries age when an Inherited IRA is created. Now, as long as you can earn more than that each year, there is no depletion but instead - increases in the capital values of the account. So, if you are married, you can stretch out payments for your lifetime. Then, your spouse if he or she survives can draw out payments for their lifetime by doing a spousal rollover, thus never creating the "inherited IRA" registration which means you can add years to the stretch period by doing a spousal rollover. Then upon your spouse's demise, your children can draw out payments for their lifetime.  Keeping your Inherited IRA going for generations makes a lot of sense!  Don't count on it from your current advisors or your parent's former advisors. After all these years, the odds are not in your favor... (Hey, you found me so things are looking up for you!)

Lastly, my specialty inherited IRA consulting area few can get right  -- is fixing trust situations that are listed as the primary beneficiary of large IRA accounts (or by default, end up as named beneficiary).  When a trust is listed  -- things can go wrong -- fast. Assuming it is an IRS "qualified" trust, you won't be able to use your own age...unless you are the only beneficiary. Multiple sub-trusts are required "per beneficiary", otherwise ALL Required Minimum Distributions (RMD's) will be based on the age of the "oldest" beneficiary listed. (Pray it's not your 85 year old Uncle...)  Knowing how to deal with an inherited IRA payable to a living trust (conduit or otherwise) requires professional help. You have about a 1% chance to do this one on your own.  Please, don't even try without professional help!

The trust needs to be a "conduit" trust to be most effective as a recipient of IRA death claim proceeds. And, it must be deemed "see through" by passing 4 distinct IRS rules  -- all to reset the age basis for those IRS required withdrawals you must start taking the year after the year of the death. Many trusts reviewed after death, (post mortem), are found (sometimes too late) to not be set up properly. Therefore, the hoped for "stretch" desired by the Inherited IRA owner is easily lost in real practice. Inherited IRA's payable to a trust on larger accounts is the norm from the legal advisors. Getting it right with the correct wording, well that's another story.  You can read more about some client cases with faulty trusts in our Wall of Shame website page!

This recent inherited IRA case shows the cost of delay:

 LOST: Millions of future "stretch" values...

One example of bad misfortune happened this past summer, 2012.  The client retained me as his Inherited IRA consultant late in 2011 after his mother passed away. Due to a grueling work schedule, the client delayed the decision making process on a substantial Inherited IRA account left to him.  Initially, the trusted insurance agent holding the funds reported the account beneficiary was her living trust.  He was wrong...

Sadly, the 9 month disclaimer period expired from the date of death and when I demanded copies of the last recorded beneficiary form, the client got the phone call you DON'T WANT! It was too late to disclaim a bad beneficiary designation on this inherited IRA annuity. A half million dollar IRA annuity was forced to be payable to the estate!  

No, it's not exactly Inherited IRA Hell, but it isn't Heaven either. The 43 year stretch got skinned down to 13.1 years, the money is now in a west coast state probate process and the legal fees are mounting.  The agent is guilty of a malpractice event for giving false information that was trusted and relied on.  And, the Inherited IRA stretch or super-stretch projections are no longer possible.

But, the story isn't over.  The living trust was the contingent beneficiary. A beneficiary form assumed signed by the mother before her death appears to  have never been recorded that would have named her living trust as primary beneficiary. The trust "Schedule A" asset sheets notes a check off mark telling us it was most likely signed and given to the agent.

Noting: The trust would have qualified as a "See Through" trust per IRS rules.

Now, for your legal experts, the plot thickens.  Every good trust portfolio has a "Pour Over" Will. And, of course EVERY asset left to the estate or found in the estate at death needs to be retitled as a trust asset after death per the P.O.W declarations by the Testator/Trix. Since the admittance of that Pour Over Will in the western state probate court has now taken place, this beat up and bruised Inherited IRA has to be stuck back into the Living Trust for the duration of the 13.1 years of RMD payments! Questions to whether this is possible or that the funds can be stretched at all are yet to be determined.

Keeping a trust open for years, just so it can pay out Inherited IRA RMD's to a very astute son as the sole heir was another mistake and one I clearly stated earlier this year when I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. (Inherited IRAs: a Sweet Deal)  Lawyers should think through what they draft when they so easily suggest a large IRA be left to a trust. Most of these plans I see after death are full of Trouble with a capital T!

So, yes, the large Inherited IRA funds may yet find their way to the trust per the now, court supervised probate. And because of the "gauntlet" they have to travel through, there is a chance the funds will get taxed after probate as the case is compounded by circumstance rarely found in my Inherited IRA consulting work that started way back in 1998. Suffice it to say that the mother's intentions are no longer possible and problems caused by bad advisors has and will cost greatly for this client before it all ends.

Read More About It At: INHERITED IRA ACCOUNTS GONE WILD

I've had too many calls from heirs already in Inherited IRA HELL!

TIP:  Seek Counsel at the Outset

A recent inherited IRA article I was interviewed in, that published on bankrate.com and Fox Business.com -- "Eight Pitfalls to Avoid With an Inherited IRA", correctly quoted what you must understand at the onset --  "Seek Counsel at the Outset". No better advice could have been spoken by reporter Sheyna Steiner. Especially if you are an owner or beneficiary of a larger Inherited IRA account that you would like to stretch the years out as far as possible before the bulk of the money actually gets taxed. 

Some of my past clients have penned that the "M.D." in my name stands for "M.D. Hammer".  I always maintain a professional attitude but occasionally I have to "get tough" for a client's behalf, while serving their best interests in the Inherited IRA arena. One thing is for sure... I never back down when large financial firms try to intimidate me. (I have never lost an argument since they are always wrong and they eventually always back down or yield)  

My associate is Dr. Saul S. Gefter, Esq, Principal Senior Consultant at Saul Stuart Gefter, International Juridical Consultant, BSBA and Juris Doctor, LLM.

Saul serves as co-consultant on all inherited IRA cases, as well as remains available for legal consulting on any legal issue that comes up.  (I've had my share of cases needing legal advisory on estate matters that become common with inherited IRA clients under retainer with my firm) His long and distinguished career and accomplishments is remarkable and outstanding. I am privileged to have such a strong partner to assist me and offer to offer to you, two advisors for one reasonable fee.  

How To Retain Us

Our firm's minimum starter retainer fee to engage inherited IRA consulting services bills at just $ 225 per hour and we do not double bill. (Two advisors for one hourly rate) Starting retainers are for a minimum of 1.5 hours that totals a starting fee due of $ 337.50. Electronic debit/credit payments or paper checks are accepted.  (Ask for more details when you or E-mail us or call us at 1-800-782-2806) If living outside of the United States, please Skype with me, using my Skype account name of (finstratin). 

Together, we can talk the tax or legal talk (I do the tax talk and he does the legal talking) with you or your current advisors. We can help them NOT malpractice by employing our services before you die and providing education and guidance in our respective areas regarding any of your future inherited IRA accounts.

If you are reading this after losing a loved one, you have our joint and profound sympathies. We each fully understand just how devastating and overwhelming the estate settlement process can be, when placed on top of the grieving process. If you are also an inherited IRA beneficiary, we understand that "deer in the headlights" feeling you may now have. So, we suggest you get some professional help. Saul and I have over 80 years of combined tax, legal and real estate experience combined in our separate professional services we offer to clients nationwide, as well ex-patriots in foreign countries. Our consulting fee is combined and we don't each separately bill. Frankly, we couldn't charge even a fraction -- as to what the cost of a needless big tax or legal mistake could render on your situation. Keep that in mind when you seriously consider who your ally is going to be in the journey to keep your newly inherited IRA funds away from immediate taxation from your Uncle Sam. 

AN EXAMPLE: If you are attempting a self-directed IRA with your inherited IRA money, did anyone yet explain how a simple mistake not caught the year it happened could cost you a 100% penalty from the IRS? (The custodian legally is charged the penalty, but every custodian is held harmless when you employ them, so the wrong person/company/plan could take your entire IRA!)  That would surely become an IRA HELL!

And with the $1,000,000 estate tax exemption limit looming on American estates, you need proper estate planning to help avoid a huge 55% federal death tax possibility on your current or inherited IRA money. If no change in current law takes place, this problem will be in our laps on January 1, 2013! 

In closing, If you are looking for intelligence and experience, at a reasonable fee structure, hire us!

Credit/Debit Card Retainer Payments Via Paypal: 

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Thanks for coming to this important Inherited IRA information site! Be sure you register for free information  below to get exclusive access to the free and feature rich content you now seek. And, please don't hesitate to contact me and let me know how I can help you.  Good Bye for now!

Sincerely,

M.D. Anderson, President
Financial Strategies, Inc.

Time to Toot Our Own Horn

 Our Recent Inherited or Self- Directed IRA Media Mentions

&

Interviews:

Life Health Pro Part 1 / Life Health Pro Part 2

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog / Choate's Notes 

Wall Street Journal / JoeTaxpayer.com

Fox Business News / Bankrate.com

Click the Graphic Below to Read

UPDATE ON IRS ALLOWED ROTH CONVERSIONS

No, you can't convert your Inherited IRA into a Roth under current tax law. But, for all other traditional IRA funds, tax options on your 2012 Roth conversions are still available to "keep" or "revert". DISCOVER why 2012 and 2013 may still be a good year to convert your IRA to a Roth IRA before tax rates go up and allowed deductions go down.