Paul Pent & Associates - Retirement Advice Blog

The IRS is looking forward to taking their portion of your IRA. Even if you plan on using your IRA as little as possible. At age 70.5 all owners of IRA’s have to withdraw what is known as their “Required Minimum Distribution”. If you die and gift your IRA to a spouse, the IRS will continue to tax your money, and if you don’t have a spouse to bequeath it to, the IRS likes that even more. They’ll tax the whole amount all at once as regular income. In a situation like the latter, your IRA will be worth only abut 65% of it’s original value upon your death.

Say you were to pass away and leave your kids, loved one, or charity an IRA worth $500,000. The IRS will gladly take approx. $175,000. (That’s assuming taxes do not continue to go up.)

There is a way to gift your whole IRA without slapping someone with a giant tax bill. We call it a “Pension Funded Irrevocable Life Trust”. Here’s how it works:

• We shop for the highest pay-out pension/annuity on the market backed by a pre-qualified pension/annuity company.
• The IRA transfers (non-taxable event) to the pension/annuity company.
• The annuity company pays payments for the owners life to the IRS and
• funds an irrevocable life trust that is activated upon death of the owner.
• The beneficiary of the trust will receive the original balance of the IRA, TAX FREE.

This is not a difficult process if enacted properly. Here was a recent case based on a 75 year old male, in mediocre health, and a $500,000 IRA.

• We found him the company that would pay the highest lifetime pension.
• The IRA was directly transferred to the annuity company.
• The annuity now directs a portion of the payment to the IRS and...
• an irrevocable life trust. 

The beneficiary (his son) will receive $500,000 TAX FREE.

If you have any questions and would like to stop paying unnecessary taxes, or would like to see how this could work for you, call us at 1-904-460-1100 or you can call me directly at 904-540-4913.

Sincerely,
Philip Pent