The Retirement and IRA Show

Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on choosing a life-changing event for an IRMAA reduction request, declining Medicare Part A to keep making HSA contributions, the hypothetical retroactive spousal RMD rule, using HSA funds for pre-65 health premiums, and using guaranteed universal life insurance as a tax-efficient inheritance.

(10:30) George asks if it matters which qualifying life event he selects on Form SSA-44, since two apply, when requesting a reduction in IRMAA. He also wonders whether the adjustment is still avoided if 2027 modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) comes in higher than estimated but stays under the first married filing jointly bracket.

(22:00) A listener inquires whether someone over 65 can decline Medicare Part A when starting a Social Security survivor benefit in order to keep contributing to a health savings account (HSA).

(44:15) The guys get a request to explain the purpose of the hypothetical retroactive spousal RMD rule for IRAs and to walk through the example from a recent EDU episode more slowly.

(57:45) Jim and Chris respond to a note saying that retirees who stay on their former employer’s health plan can use HSA money to pay premiums before age 65.

(1:01:30) A listener seeks guidance on using a guaranteed universal life insurance policy to tax-efficiently pass an inheritance to trusts for two adult children.

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If you would prefer to skip Jim and Chris’s banter about Jim’s garden greens and his trip to Nashville, Indiana you can skip to (12:00).

Chris’s Summary

Jim and I discuss little-known IRA rules that trace back to the IRS final regulations released in July 2024. The rules covered include how an older eligible designated beneficiary may calculate RMDs, a spousal RMD that is both hypothetical and retroactive, and the documentation requirement for see-through trusts. Some of these changes simplify the rules, while one adds complexity.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary

Chris and I start into a list of little-known IRA rules that I put together from my old Ed Slott notes, and the three we cover all trace back to what the IRS did in July of 2024. Most of them involve beneficiaries, because that is where IRAs stop being basic and start getting confusing. Remember, when you hear the words designated beneficiary, throw them out of your brain and put in the word human. We start with an eligible human who inherits from someone younger, and I put Chris on the spot with a true or false. He gets partial credit, and that IRS decision explains why.

That same release also created the hypothetical retroactive spousal RMD. Hypothetical. It’s not real. It never happened, yet it may still land on a surviving spouse who moves an inherited IRA to their own. That name is a mouthful, so I walk through examples, including what changes when the spouses are different ages and what the IRS means by “first applicable year.” It’s easy to forget, yet forgetting it can cause real trouble.

We also get into see-through trusts. Trusts are pieces of paper, and trusts don’t die, so the IRS set parameters a trust has to follow before it will treat one like a human. I go through them, and on the beneficiaries my advice is name names. Then there is a documentation rule the IRS made simpler in that same release, but not for every type of account. Why that is, I still can’t tell you. If you have an explanation, I’m all ears.

The post Little-Known IRA Rules, Part 1: EDU #2642 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Jim and Chris are joined by Tom Stivers for a couple questions on COBRA coverage for a younger spouse and Social Security survivor benefits and the RIB-LIM rule. Jim and Chris continue on without “Grasshopper” for a listener PSA following up on the Chip and Dale/Chippendale banter from a previous episode and questions on pension deferral past RMD age, insurer service after inheriting a 403(b), single premium deferred annuities (SPDAs), and the timing of annuity purchases as financial understanding declines with age.

(16:15) George follows up on a recent episode’s COBRA discussion, noting that a non-Medicare spouse is limited to 18 months of coverage when the qualifying event is retirement at 64.5.

(26:45) A listener asks for an explanation of the Retirement Insurance Benefit Limit (RIB-LIM) and wonders whether, after both spouses claimed at 62, a surviving spouse would receive the higher earner’s monthly benefit or something more.

(40:30) The guys receive a PSA following up on the Chip and Dale/Chippendale banter from a previous episode, explaining the history of the names and which came first.

(44:45) A pension recipient wonders whether a pension office is correct that the deferred portion of a pension held in a 401(a) can stay deferred past age 73 while RMDs begin, as a way to remain in the 24% tax bracket.

(57:45) Jim and Chris revisit an earlier question about a delayed 403(b) inheritance, as the follow-up asks why anyone would buy an annuity from an insurer that struggled to process a simple inheritance.

(1:13:30) Georgette wants to know whether a five-year, 4.4% single premium deferred annuity (SPDA) purchased with funds from an IRA was a good move and what to consider when it matures.

(1:26:15) A longtime DIYer asks whether waiting until a Minimum Dignity Floor shortage arrives to buy an annuity conflicts with the goal of the younger self protecting the older self.

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If you would prefer to skip Jim and Chris chatting about fall weather in Colorado and Ohio, Jim’s upcoming trip to Nashville, and country music, you can skip to (11:30).

Chris’s Summary

Jim and I look at stretch IRA eligibility after the SECURE Act and who now qualifies as an eligible designated beneficiary. We start with why naming a beneficiary matters, then trace how the stretch was assembled from the Keogh Act, TEFRA, and IRS regulations before SECURE curtailed it. From there, we define the five categories still allowed to stretch, how the date of death determines eligibility, and how IRAs and employer plans treat disability and chronic illness certification differently.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary

Chris and I take a deeper dive into eligible designated beneficiaries, something that seems benign but isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. What a lot of people don’t realize is that Congress never created the stretch IRA. It was stitched together like Frankenstein from two different acts and separate IRS regulations, and it got so ingrained that it took a specific act of Congress to greatly curtail it. Under the old rules, if a 1-year-old inherited an IRA, it could stay open for 80-plus years. But Congress wanted to get money out of IRAs sooner rather than later for the tax revenue so the rules changed.

Think of the Black Knight from Monty Python, gravely injured but still doing its best to carry on. Congress wounded the stretch IRA, but they didn’t kill it. What survived is the eligible designated beneficiary, or eligible humans, and there are 5 categories still allowed to stretch. Some we go through wicked quick. Others send us down little rabbit holes.

We dig into stretch IRA eligibility questions like does the IRS accept common-law marriage? Do stepchildren and foster children count as a minor child? And why can one day before an 18th birthday change how disability is defined? Then there’s the question of how a beneficiary proves they’re disabled or chronically ill. The IRS waived some of the certification requirements, but it didn’t treat IRAs and employer plans the same way. I don’t get why that is, but I share Ed Slott’s theory on it.

The post Stretch IRA Eligibility: EDU #2641 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on Social Security first check timing at age 70 and child-in-care spousal benefits, additional milestone ages and HSA contribution PSAs, Roth withdrawals under the Rule of 55, and finding annuity providers with good customer service.

(11:30) A listener asks whether Social Security benefits started in the month of a 70th birthday should arrive the following month, or only after the first full month at age 70, as the Social Security Administration explained.

(19:45) The guys field a question on whether a spouse can collect a child-in-care spousal benefit for caring for a stepson who became disabled at 21 and receives Supplemental Security Income.

(27:30) Jim and Chris share a PSA that 120 is a milestone age worth noting, since that is when the life expectancy factor used for most RMDs stops decreasing each year.

(34:30) Georgette notes that each spouse’s $1,000 HSA catch-up contribution must go into their own HSA and wonders whether Roth withdrawals of growth qualify under the Rule of 55 or must wait until 59½.

(43:15) The guys share another PSA pointing out that Rule 72(t), which allows penalty-free IRA withdrawals before 59½, is another milestone worth adding to the recent Retirement Milestone Ages episode.

(49:15) A fellow CFP® clarifies that Medicare enrollment, not age, ends HSA contribution eligibility, so someone working past 65 without Medicare can keep contributing, including the $1,000. catch-up.

(58:15) Jim and Chris address whether any annuity providers offer solid customer service.

The post Social Security, Milestone Ages, HSAs, Roth Withdrawals, Annuity Providers: Q&A #2641 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.