The IRA and Retirement Plan Owner's Guide to Beating the New Death Tax: 6 Proven Strategies to Protect Your Family from The SECURE Act

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), which became law effective January 1, 2020, contains a provision that could be financially devastating for the children and grandchildren of IRA, 401(k) and other retirement plan owners

The ticking time bomb is the provision that radically modifies the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules for Inherited IRAs and retirement accounts. Subject to some exceptions, an Inherited IRA or retirement plan will have to be distributed and taxed within 10 years of the original owner’s death. This forced income tax acceleration will decimate the savings and undermine the long-term financial plans of many hard-working retirement plan owners and their families.

What might it mean to you?

Consider the following scenario: On the morning of December 31, 2019, two elderly men in poor health who each have exactly $1,000,000 in their IRAs are admitted to the hospital. The first man dies within an hour of being admitted to the hospital. The man second dies the following afternoon—January 1, 2020. Each of the men bequeathed his $1 million IRA to his 45-year-old daughter. Both of these women earn the same amount of money. They retire at exactly the same time. They receive identical Social Security benefits. They even have identical annual expenses. In fact, in terms of income and spending, these women behave identically. However, at age 86 the first man’s daughter has $2,236,583, and the second man’s daughter is broke.

That jaw-dropping difference—in our hypothetical example—is an all-too-real possibility for the children of millions of IRA and retirement plan owners (see Graph 0.1 for more details). What a difference a day makes.

The IRA and Retirement Plan Owner’s Guide to Beating the New Death Tax, draws on Mr. Lange’s more than thirty years’ experience as a practicing estate attorney and CPA and his depth of research and analysis. For all those years, Jim has trained his laser focus on the unique planning requirements and opportunities for IRA and retirement plan owners. He clearly identifies the problems and opportunities generated by the passage of the SECURE Act and offers his exceptional strategic solutions to these challenges. In response to the ongoing and unprecedented COVID-19 global health crisis, the book has been updated to include tax-savvy responses to the recent economic downturn and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).

Retirement plan owners can use these practical, proven, and strategic defenses to protect their financial legacies. Through the use of real-world questions and answers, examples, and illustrations, the reader will discover:

• How to use Roth conversions to minimize taxes on your IRA income for decades -- for both you and your family.

• How to optimize Social Security strategies in light of the SECURE Act.

• How to use gifting strategies to adroitly maximize family wealth under the SECURE Act.

• How to update your wills and trusts for greater flexibility and protection against the SECURE Act.

• How to ensure financial security for your surviving spouse after you pass.

• Why leaving your IRA to a charitable remainder trust (CRT) can be more beneficial to your children than leaving the IRA to them outright -- as bizarre as that may sound.

• Why owning investments in jointly held accounts with your spouse is probably a bad idea after the SECURE Act.

• How to combine multiple tax-reduction methods for maximum benefit.

• And more...

Implementing some, or all, of these timely strategies could save IRA and retirement plan owners and their families hundreds of thousands of dollars. This book is a must read for all IRA and retirement plan owners, financial planners, and tax professionals.


SECURE Act, CARES Act, Retirement Planning, Roth IRA, IRAs, 401k, Money, Investing, Tax Planning, Estate Planning, Finance

About James Lange, CPA, Attorney, and Financial Advisor

Jim’s estate and tax planning strategies have been endorsed by The Wall Street Journal (36 times), Newsweek, Money,
Smart Money, Reader’s Digest, Bottom Line, and Kiplinger’s and most recently, Forbes magazine. Jim has authored five peer-reviewed
articles in Trusts & Estates. Jim is a regular columnist for Forbes.com, and his expertise on Roth IRA conversions was
solicited for an article in the February 2019 issue of Forbes magazine.

With 35 years of retirement and estate planning experience, James Lange and his team have drafted 2,631 wills and trusts, as well
as sophisticated beneficiary designations for IRAs and other retirement plans using Lange’s Cascading Beneficiary Plan. They
have also administered hundreds of estates whose families have benefitted from these plans.

Mr. Lange is the author of six best-selling books, including three editions of Retire Secure!, endorsed by Charles Schwab, Larry King, Ed Slott, Jane Bryant Quinn, and Roger Ibbotson and 50 other experts; The Roth Revolution, endorsed by Ed Slott, Natalie Choate, and Bob Keebler; The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million-Dollar IRA, endorsed by Bill Flanagan, Paul Merriman, and Burton Malkiel; and The $214,000 Mistake, How to Double Your Social Security and Maximize Your IRAs endorsed by Larry Kotlikoff, Jonathan Clements, Paul Merriman, and Elaine Floyd.

Jim created The Roth IRA Institute—offering professionals in the industry advice and recommendations. His proof of the tax and estate planning advantages of Roth IRA conversions has been peer-reviewed by the top tax journal of the American Institute of CPAs. Further, all 15 IRA experts interviewed on his radio show have indicated that most taxpayers, at some point, will benefit from a Roth IRA conversion—and that was before today’s favorable new tax brackets made Roth IRAs even more advantageous.