IRAs—The Missing Link in Many Seniors’ Estate Plans

    According to the IRS, 43 million people have $2.7 trillion in retirement accounts. Most of this money will become IRA rollovers, and the dollars will continue to grow. Yet IRAs are neglected in the average estate plan because investors do not know they are neglected, sometimes thinking that their IRA plans are handled through their wills or living trusts.

  They don’t know until you ask them who will inherit their IRA or retirement account. And if not updated, an unintended person, such as an ex-spouse, could get funds that were earmarked for the current spouse because the forms weren’t updated.