The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million Dollar IRA

Lange (The Little Black Book of Social Security Secrets, Couples Ages 62–70), a CPA and attorney, predicts the imminent death of the “stretch IRA” at the hands of Congress (a prophecy possibly canceled out by the right’s recent electoral gains). If he is correct, however, the cost to American families could be in the millions. For those of us ignorant of this investment vehicle, the stretch IRA allows IRA owners to bequeath their IRAs to children or grandchildren as an “inherited IRA.” Because these beneficiaries have longer life expectancies than the usual IRA owners (retirees or their spouses), the required minimum distributions from the accounts are quite small, allowing the majority of the balance to accrue tax-free for a generation or more. The difference between this form of estate planning and conventional approaches can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to one’s heirs. While on one level a shameless plug for Lange’s business, the book is nevertheless a clear, well-written, and informed take on a worthwhile topic seldom addressed in mainstream personal-finance books.[em] (BookLife) [/em]