In a recent post, we reminded investors of the importance of naming and reviewing beneficiaries – especially as the holidays approach. The end of the year is filled with (good) distractions, so now is a great time to double check your investment accounts. It can give you one more thing to be thankful for – that your hard earned assets will be distributed to your family, consistent with your wishes. In our previous post, we mainly focused on retirement accounts, like 401(k)s and IRAs. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and annuities all have beneficiary designations. You can just fill out a form to indicate how and to whom you want your assets dispersed, in a fairly straightforward and easy process. But what about taxable accounts like a brokerage account or joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) accounts? These types of accounts are common amongst investors, yet there is no beneficiary designation attached to them. That’s where establishing a “transfer on death” (TOD) registration comes into play.
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