2017 4th Quarter Issue – InFRE’s free retirement newsletter
The quarterly newsletter from the International Foundation for Retirement Education’s to help retirement professionals keep abreast of what’s happening in the field of retirement readiness, counseling, planning and income management.
In this retirement-specific newsletter, planners will learn about:
- “IRA Beneficiary Designations and Surviving Spouse Strategies” by Rex L. Hogue, Attorney and Partner, Haiman Hogue, PLLC. Qualified retirement plans can create numerous estate planning problems. Upon death, an IRA is subject to income tax, federal estate tax, possible state income tax, and possible state inheritance tax. A retirement plan trust can avoid tax problems while it protects beneficiaries.
- “The DOL Fiduciary Rule and Your Duty of Care” by Blaine Aikin, AIFA®, CFA, CFP®, CEO of fi360. The Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule is here and it is transforming the marketplace for advice. While managing conflicts of interest (fiduciary duty of loyalty) is the central focus of the Rule, the keys to compliance and advisor success are having policies, procedures, and practices in place to fulfil the fiduciary duty of care.
- “Essential IRA Tips for Helping Clients Save Taxes and Avoid Penalties” by Denise Appleby, CISP, CRC®, CRPS, CRSP, APA, President of Appleby Retirement Consulting, Inc. As is evidenced by numerous IRS private letter rulings, court cases, and other official sources, mistakes with IRA transactions is a common occurrence. These mistakes can result in loss of tax-deferred status, and penalties being owed to the IRS.
The articles below comprise the 2017 4th Qtr Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends. Click on the links below to read each article online separately, or click here to view and print the issue in its entirety.
Welcome to InFRE’s January, 2018 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends
on January 31, 2018
Retirement InSight and Trends is the quarterly newsletter for the International Foundation for Retirement Education’s Certified Retirement Counselors® (CRC®s) to help retirement professionals with the practical application of new retirement readiness, counseling, planning and income management concepts for the mid-market. Find out more about the CRC® here and […] Continue Reading this issue of Retirement Insight and Trends here→
January, 2018 InFRE Update: True Retirement Professionals
on January 31, 2018
To meet the requirements of today’s fiduciary environment, we believe it is critical to have an accredited professional credential that signifies achievement of a level of competence and ethical commitment associated with being a retirement professional. Of over 160 financial designations listed on FINRA’s website, the CRC® is […] Continue Reading →
IRA Beneficiary Designations and Surviving Spouse Strategies
on January 31, 2018
By Rex L. Hogue, Attorney and Partner, Haiman Hogue, PLLC
Qualified retirement plans (QRPs) create numerous planning problems. I found that most people have no idea how much they complicate estate planning nor do they know how to deal with the complications. Many mistakes can be made that can be devastating, and frequently they are fatal. You cannot reverse them.
There are seven situations for retirement plan trusts that we think are absolutely the best way to deal with beneficiary designations. In this article we are going to talk about basic inherited retirement plan rules, tax problems with QRPs, three tax options with IRAs, what we refer to as the “five blowout” problems, seven problems with individual beneficiaries, and why the retirement plan trust is better than other options. […] Continue Reading →
The DOL Fiduciary Rule and Your Duty
on January 31, 2018
By Blaine Aikin, AIFA®, CFA, CFP® – Fiduciary Responsibility Expert
There is a famous quote from Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo where he talks about the difference between fiduciary standards versus rules of the marketplace. He begins with “a trustee” – and whenever he talks about trustee, that is the classic way of thinking about a fiduciary. It is someone who holds assets on behalf of another.
So, “A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the marketplace. Uncompromising rigidity has been the attitude of courts of equity whenever they are petitioned to undermine this undivided duty of loyalty by the ‘disintegrating erosion’ of particular exceptions. Only thus has the level of conduct for fiduciaries been kept at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd.” By avoiding those exceptions, we can keep the standards for fiduciaries higher than the standard or the morals of the marketplace. […] Continue Reading →
Essential IRA Tips for Helping Clients Save Taxes and Avoid Penalties
on January 31, 2018
By Denise Appleby, APA, CISP, CRPS, CRC®, CRSP, President of Appleby Retirement Consulting, Inc.
There is so much that we need to be paying attention to today to protect our clients. By the end of this article, I hope you learn how to prevent rollover and RMD mistakes that can cost your clients their IRAs, and help ensure that the right person inherits IRAs. The cost of making errors includes loss of tax-deferred status, premature taxation, early distribution penalty, excess accumulation, excise taxes….
Abide by the One-per-year Rollover Rule. This rule applies to rollovers that occur between IRAs. I get asked this question a lot: “I am rolling over from my 401(k). Am I subject to the one-per-year rollover rule?” The answer is no. However, if someone breaks this rule, there is loss of tax-deferred status, excess IRA contributions from ineligible rollovers, and 6 percent excise tax if the ineligible rollover is not corrected properly and corrected by the deadline. So, what is this rule? […]
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Earn 1 free Continuing Education (CE) credit for the January, 2018 Issue of InFRE’s Retirement InSight and Trends
on January 31, 2018
This issue of the January, 2018 issue of Retirement InSight and Trends is no longer eligible for CE credit.