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There are good reasons to make a record of your retirement accounts. After your death, your survivors will want to file claims for any outstanding benefits. And if you ever become incapacitated, the person in charge of your finances will have to manage your accounts for you.
To make these tasks easier for your loved ones, you should keep a list of basic information about your retirement accounts, pension plans, and Social Security benefits. This article gives you tips on how to do that. First, however, here are some essential rules about what happens to retirement benefits after your death.
To learn more about organizing all of the documents relating to your estate, not just retirement accounts, see Nolo's Getting Organized for Your Family Resource Center.
What Happens to Retirement Accounts When You Die?
Each of your retirement accounts and pension plans should name a beneficiary. (Don't use your will to name beneficiaries for your retirement plans.) Money remaining in the accounts at your death (and any pension payments due to you) will pass directly to the beneficiaries you have named, without the hassles and expense of probate court.
| Don't Name Your Living Trust as Beneficiary | | If you have created a living trust to avoid probate, it's generally not wise to name the trust as the beneficiary of your retirement accounts. Retirement funds are already exempt from probate, and by naming your trust as beneficiary, inheritors are likely to lose some of the benefits and flexibility they would otherwise have. |
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Your Family May Be Eligible for Social Security Benefits
After your death, your family may be entitled to Social Security survivor benefits. Eligible family members will receive monthly payments -- as much as the full retirement amount that would have been paid to you.
Your spouse qualifies for benefits if he or she is:
- at least 60 years old, or
- at least 50 years old and disabled, or
- any age, if he or she is caring for your child -- and the child is under age 16 or is disabled and receiving Social Security benefits.
Your unmarried children are entitled to survivor benefits if they are:
- under the age of 18, or
- between 18 and 19, but attending elementary or secondary school full time, or
- age 18 or older and severely disabled, with a disability that started before age 22.
Other eligible survivors may include your dependent parents, divorced spouse, stepchildren, and grandchildren.
In addition to ongoing survivor benefits, your spouse or minor children may also be eligible for a one-time payment of $255 upon your death. For more information, see the Social Security website at www.ssa.gov.
Listing Your Retirement Accounts and Benefits
It shouldn't take long to make a record of your retirement plans and accounts. Taking a little time to do it now may save your loved ones a good deal of trouble down the road.
At minimum, you should make a list of every plan that you have, whether it pays benefits now, or whether you expect benefits in the future. Remember to include:
- employer-sponsored plans or pensions
- IRAs (traditional, Roth, SIMPLE, or SEP-IRAs), and
- Keogh, profit-sharing plans, or self-employed 401(k)s for small business owners.
For each account, list the following information:
- the name of the managing organization or financial institution
- the account or identification number
- contact information for your account manager or adviser (if any)
- whether or not you're currently receiving benefits, and if so, how much, and
- the location of your plan statements.
You should also list and describe your Social Security benefits, including those based on your earnings (or disability) that go to your family members and those you expect in the future.
Remember to review your list of accounts and benefits periodically. Update your records if you acquire or terminate a plan or change the location where you file your plan statements.
Storing Your Information
Some of your retirement information is sensitive, so you'll want to file your list in a secure location, such a locked cabinet or fireproof safe at home. But it's important to tell those closest to you where the information is and how to get to it. Most important, if you've named an executor, or an agent under a durable power of attorney for finances, be certain they can find this information when they need it.
To help you organize retirement accounts and other important information, you can turn to Nolo's Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To, by Melanie Cullen and Shae Irving, J.D. This workbook with CD-ROM provides a complete system for documenting information for your executor, caretakers, and other loved ones.
Copyright 2008 Nolo