A beneficiary is someone who receives a financial asset that was once owned by someone else. Choosing beneficiaries helps ...

Discretionary beneficiaries are individuals or entities eligible for trust, insurance, or retirement distributions based on ...

IRAs have become a core part of the retirement system in the United States with over $18 trillion in assets not as of 2025. While retirement accounts are there for retirement, they can also become ...

Jonathan Ponciano is a financial journalist with nearly a decade of experience covering markets, technology, and entrepreneurship. Maskot / Getty Images Your 401(k) passes to the person you name on a ...

Dear Mr. Premack: A large part of my estate, if I were to pass away now, is contained in my IRA account. My total estate would fall below the amount for federal tax exemption. Since the money in the ...

If your life insurance beneficiary dies before you, the payout may go to a contingent beneficiary or your estate, depending on how you set up the policy. You can choose how death benefits are ...

Naming your trust as the beneficiary of your IRA could have terrible tax consequences. This single fact does not mean you should never name a trust as the beneficiary of your IRA or other retirement ...

The Secure Act of 2019 changed inherited IRA rules. Distribution time frames from inherited IRAs depend on whether you’re a spouse. Required minimum distributions from an inherited IRA could be ...