reading

Positioning 4 Retirement is an excellent analysis of the pros and cons of having a retirement plan. Mark Cardoza has written the only treatise I know of that discusses the hazards and potential pitfalls of having a qualified retirement plan. This book should be read by everyone who has an IRA, 401(k), Contributory or Defined Benefit Pension Plan, or a Roth IRA. Well worth the reading.

In Positioning 4 Retirement, Mark Cardoza has shown an outstanding ability to demonstrate clearly to the reader the need for retirement planning and the many choices available when undertaking such an activity. Mark writes insightfully about the need for preparing for retirement while focusing on the potential pitfalls involved and related choices and modifications that may be required with respect to maximizing the value of income and assets and minimizing taxes. The author explains the necessity for the selection of an independent team of experts when the time comes for retirement planning and convincingly indicates it cannot come too soon in one’s lifetime. He properly emphasizes that each person does indeed have individualized objectives and needs when undertaking such planning. He explains the concept of qualified funds and non-qualified funds with clarity at the beginning of the book and expands upon their meaning, use, and interacting properties throughout the text.

The author classifies financial products into proper categories throughout the text and defines and discusses annuities with clarity. The time-value of money concepts are included in the illustrations. The worksheets and spreadsheet add a wonderful dimension to the text and contribute to a clearer understanding of difficult concepts.

Positioning 4 Retirement is an excellent guide for navigating the various issues encountered when preparing for retirement. Mark Cardoza masterfully presents important pre- and post-retirement information, case studies, and pertinent examples in an easy-to-read manner. Review questions at the end of each chapter provide the reader with a powerful tool to check understanding of the material. I have read many books related to investing and retirement. This book is by far the easiest and most comprehensive I have read.

In my fifteen years as an advisor consultant, I haven’t seen a more comprehensive retirement planning book than Positioning 4 Retirement. What makes this book so unique is how Mark Cardoza breaks every aspect of retirement planning down and explains it so that anyone can understand. This is a must-have book for pre-retirees, retirees, financial planners, along with attorneys and CPAs.

Mark has hit a home run with Positioning 4 Retirement. He provides a wealth of information that will help guide anyone with his or her individualized retirement plan. After completing the worksheets and spreadsheet, you’ll know exactly how well you’re positioned for your own retirement.

As a person quickly approaching retirement, I thought my savings and investment portfolio was right on track. After reading Positioning 4 Retirement, I realized my understanding was quite inadequate. The concepts of planning strategies, impact of taxes, and the vulnerability of my funds were an eye opener. Wish I’d had this valuable information twenty years ago.

Very informative and clearly written. Easy to focus on those areas that apply to your situation with ample references for deeper research. Nicely provides the key perspectives of investing, tax management, long-term health care, and estate planning and the need for a full team of resources to cover all of the bases. Qualified versus non-qualified plans and their impact on retirement tax management are particularly well presented. Good examples are given based on personal experience.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for those who can get a head start on their retirement planning, e.g., people in their early forties.

Mark Cardoza has done a wonderful job of explaining the often difficult to understand subject of money management. His style is both interesting and informative, and I especially like the way he aligns his website with the book.

Funny how we all think we have this topic understood and covered … well, until you read this book. People who are currently preparing for their future and retirement or who have already been investing need to read Positioning 4 Retirement. Mark has an acute awareness and knowledge of the need to understand fully all that is needed in a successful retirement. This truly was educational for me, and I couldn’t put the book down. Makes you wonder what else we are missing.

I was impressed by the breadth and depth of the information and picked up a few nuggets that I wasn’t aware of before. Mark’s explanations are easy to consume, and I can see myself educating others. I will come back to this as reference.

Positioning 4 Retirement is an indispensable write-up of personal investments, retirement, tax lien investing, and more. Mark makes a complex subject clear and simple. The book is a pleasure to read and shows you how to approach investing in ways I have just not seen covered before. This is required reading for anyone interested in retirement and financial help.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Request for permission to reproduce this work or worksheets within may be submitted to Retirement Education Resource Center of North America, Inc.

This information is offered for broad informational purposes only. The author and editors do not assume any responsibility for any individual’s reliance on any oral or written information. Information should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of any form of consultation with your financial, legal, and/or accounting professionals. The recipient of this information should independently verify all statements made before applying them to a particular fact pattern and should seek the aid of an advisor. The author shall not be responsible for information provided herein under any theory of liability or indemnity. Information accessed through this book is provided “as is” and without warranty, expressed or implied.

Practical Application I - Identifying Your Personal Qualified Incomes and Assets and Applying Them to Your Retirement Perspective

Practical Application II - Identifying Your Personal Non-qualified Money and Applying It to Your Retirement Perspective

Chapter 10 - Measuring the Risk of Coordinating Qualified and Non-qualified Funds

Practical Application IV - Identifying and Evaluating Your Annuities and Life Insurance

Chapter 14 - Providing Resources and Protection with Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI)

Article 1 - What Few Know about Their 401(k) and Other Qualified Retirement Funds

Acknowledgements

My wife and soul mate, Janice, for her patience, love, and understanding; for believing in me and my achievements; and for having the will to help others with me.

My mother, Rita, and my children, Mike, Chris, and Julie, for their love, support, and encouragement.

My father, Tony, and his brother, Joe. Without their passing, I would not have entered this field and experienced many of the elements that are shared in this book, enlightening many people and more to come.

Attorney Lawrence S. Zaharoff of Zaharoff & Zaharoff for conveying his knowledge and experience. Larry’s soft-spoken, gentle personality, coupled with his passion for the law and his clients, made understanding the legal world of estate and Medicaid planning much easier.

CPAs Gary J. Marini, Jack D. Adelson, and Glenn P. Cunniff of PECK Associates for taking the time to comment and focus on the tax issues, while recognizing and clarifying a complex tax world, making Positioning 4 Retirement easy to read and understand.

Vincent Serratore of Heritage Wealth Management for his encouragement, support, edification, and contribution. His ability to be open-minded when blending his knowledge and experience, while understanding the separation of securities and insurance, is well respected.

Graphic artist/illustrator George A. Heath for his time and attention to the detail in each drawing, illustration, and graph, and translating the content of the book through his eyes and mind to his hands into art with ease.

Lisa M. Wynn, paralegal, for her editing skills, arranging and organizing the articles in a sequence that made sense, recognizing areas that required clarification, and noting elements on the overall subject that needed to be addressed.

Sharon E. Zaharoff for her time, patience, and editing skills and for changing single, complex sentences into several more understandable and smoother-flowing ones. Positioning 4 Retirement would not be so easy to read and comprehend without you.

Julie Scandora for analyzing, cross-referencing, and clarifying the information presented while demonstrating the art of editing.

Dan Raymo of Platypus Multimedia Solution for designing a website to complement the book and fit our current and future needs.

Gary Fradin for sharing his writing experience, ultimately recommending the book’s content to become simplified and illustrated.

Charles (Chip) Landquist for offering his patience, knowledge, experience, and mentoring skills at the very beginning of my career in the finance world.

Simon, a friend whose words, “you see things differently than others, and you should share what you see,” inspired me to write this book.

Rick Solano, Karl Hoover, Mary J. Phelan, Jay and Debbie S., Richard P. Payant, Paul M., Morris P., Rick Harper, and R. and J. Tetrault for your comments and testimonials.

Sheryn Hara and her team at Book Publishers Network for taking the manuscript into the final stages and making it a reality.

Dunkin’ Donuts, 1280 Belmont Street, Brockton, Massachusetts, for allowing us to use their conference space.

And to family, friends, and clients who encouraged and believed in me and what I do. Thank you for allowing me to influence your lives and use your stories.

Preface

I was inspired to write Positioning 4 Retirement to help people make the best of their retirement, whether already at that stage or planning for it. My goal is to help them understand the intricate plans and programs for retirement and to illustrate the importance of positioning these plans to optimize control. In my experience, many people are unaware or do not understand their retirement plan, its function, the components, and how each component responds and reacts with the other parts. It is my objective to help our society better understand the programs they are working with while directing them to build a healthy retirement portfolio with options and choices to fit their goals.

Retirement planning is the process of accumulating assets that can be sold or transferred entirely or in part to create:

• income supporting everyday expenses and complementing Social Security and pensions;

• reserves for emergencies, vacations, gifts, family support, and good living while in retirement;

• protection to provide for you, your spouse, or your partner in the event of death or the need for extended care;

Assets include real estate, physical property of value (such as a piece of art, a race horse, or investments) and liquid assets (such as stocks and bonds, savings, cash•value life insurance, cash on hand, CDs, etc.).

Today’s society is more afraid of running out of money during retirement than dying. Leaving wealth for one’s children is less of a concern than becoming a financial burden to them. This book is designed to help alleviate these concerns and to secure a lifelong retirement with the opportunity to leave assets to one’s heirs.

• a tax plan that coordinates the accumulation and distribution in unison with the legal plan

• The accumulation and distribution component has two common elements: investment and insurance.

• The legal plan can have several elements from a will to a sophisticated estate plan with possibly a business succession plan.

• Both the estate plan and business plan can be built and amended as the assets grow and the dynamics change.

• The tax plan is driven by the complexity of the legal plan and, thus, has elements that correspond to the legal plan.

A successful retirement plan not only should have all of these components but should also have all these parts synchronized.

Positioning 4 Retirement discusses each of these components and exposes some of the idiosyncrasies that are built into our government systems that can be detrimental to a retirement plan. But the US government also promotes programs that benefit the public, and the book includes these among the choices to help readers plan for their future.

Positioning 4 Retirement’s objective is to educate so you can formulate sensible decisions that are easy to understand. The book also provides in-depth information for those looking for more comprehensive details. For this reason, following the explanatory foundation in the chapters, we have included articles that expand upon that information.

How to Get the Most Out of This Book

The chapters of the book offer simplified information meant for easy reading. The information in the chapters is from the article section, which provides a more in-depth analysis of the chapter content.

At the end of each chapter, there are questions, ensuring the reader understands the content.

At the end of each section, there are practical applications to determine how the section fits your own retirement plan, putting the section in perspective for you personally. To assist you in completing your practical applications, proceed to www.Positioning4Retirement.com to complete and print out the worksheets that coordinate with that section. The information continues with the website, which offers the following:

• a spreadsheet that brings it all together and helps you track your funds and plan your next step

• resources and contact information to access professionals you may want to talk to

• communications that will keep you informed of new ideas and information pertinent to retirement

Once you have read Positioning 4 Retirement and followed its instructions, you should have:

• a better understanding of how to position retirement assets more effectively;

• an understanding as to government’s position in regards to your retirement fund;

• an idea of the options available to balance qualified plans, offsetting government rules and regulations;

Section I - Getting To Know Your Retirement Plan

Chapter 1 - Qualified Retirement Plans

The first step toward understanding your retirement plan is to identify the type of qualified plan you may have through your employer or your options for a retirement plan if you are self-employed. From my experience with organizing retirement plans, people need to have a firm understanding of qualified and non-qualified money. Understanding the difference, how they can affect your retirement, and how to manage these types of funds are critical to optimizing your retirement plan. By managing your qualified and non-qualified money properly, you can save on taxes, leaving more money to spend when and where you want.

Most people refer to their retirement plan as their 401(k), 403(b), or another tax code assigned to their plan. These retirement plans are known as qualified plans.

Qualified retirement plans are assigned these numbers, based on the tax code they follow. In general, these plans are driven by the employer with the help of a plan administrator. The employee has the right to participate in the plan based on the guidelines established by the organization and the US government to receive tax advantages. Oftentimes, the employer will match the employee’s contribution and will receive a tax advantage as well. Each plan has elements that differentiate one from the other, such as distribution restrictions and limiting plan sponsors.

Here are the basic programs and an overview of what they offer:

• 401(k) is for those employed by a for-profit company.

• 403(b) is for those employed by a non-profit organization.

• 457(b) is for employees of the government.

• Designated Roth accounts are unique plans offered by the employer with special tax considerations.

• SIMPLE and SEP, including the Solo and Safe Harbor options, are generally used with small companies and self-employed individuals. Although there are several options for self-employed individuals, total contribution is calculated on an individual basis, not by the plan. This eliminates the individual from exceeding the limits. Each plan offers tax advantages for both the employee and the employer.

• SIMPLE is Savings Investment Match Plan for Employees. This type of account has tax advantages for both the employee and employer with fewer than one hundred employed. Among the advantages, the employee receives a 3 percent match while the employer is able to use the contribution as a tax deduction.

• SEP stands for Simplified Employee Pension. A SEP is for self-employed individuals filing their taxes as a sole proprietor or as a partnership. Among the guidelines, the employer must contribute equally into the employee’s account.

• Solo 401(k), as its name indicates, is for the self-employed individual and spouse with no full-time employees, following the same rules and requirements as a traditional 401(k).

• Safe Harbor 401(k) is unique since it is not subject to annual contribution testing typical of a traditional 401(k). In exchange, employees receive a certain level of contribution based on how the plan is designed.

Generally, the functions of these qualified plans are similar, and their results are the same for employer-sponsored programs; however, the manner in which they are monitored and administered differs by the employer and plan. Each plan has its own unique quality that makes it different and adaptable to an employer. One major element that all the plans offer is tax advantages for both the employee and the employer, which makes accumulating qualified funds very attractive and inviting.

The following plans are independent from employer-sponsored plans:

• Traditional IRA is separate from employer plans and used independently, in addition to the above plans.

• Roth IRA is a unique plan that offers special tax considerations and is separate from the above plans.

One element that all the plans mentioned have in common is they are qualified plans.

Qualified Explained

The word “qualified” confuses most people when discussing retirement plans. Simply put, a qualified plan refers to an account that meets certain IRS guidelines in order to be considered a retirement account. It is also referred to as “qualified money” or a “qualified fund.” Moving forward, we will refer to these plans as “qualified.”

Qualified funds can be in the form of securities, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, and annuities. The money placed in a qualified plan has special tax considerations.

Special Tax Considerations of a Qualified Plan

The following information lists elements of qualified retirement plans.

• The money that goes into a qualified retirement fund has not been taxed and is referred to as “pre-tax dollars.”

• The pre-tax dollars grow tax deferred meaning, until you take a distribution, you do not pay income taxes

• The money is taxed based on the individual’s tax bracket and tax rules at the time of withdrawal. The general assumption is that the tax bracket will be lower when the individual has retired.

• Early withdrawal, before age 59½, will result in a 10 percent IRS penalty. However, there are special circumstances for withdrawals prior to age 59½ without penalty that meet IRS qualifications. These include the down payment for first-time home buyers, death of the individual, total disability, extensive medical expenses, health insurance premium while unemployed, college expenses, and others.

Consequences of Special Tax Considerations for Qualified Plans

Not paying tax on the income you earn and allowing it to grow with the funds that you would have paid in taxes causes you to be taxed on a greater portion of money. This allows the US government to be a partner in your retirement plan. Uncle Sam then has control over when and how you can spend these funds. By choosing a qualified plan, you are giving Uncle Sam the ability to mandate and establish rules, regulations, and guidelines that can change frequently and in favor of the government. Uncle Sam also has the ability to change the special tax considerations. He is in your pocket and has majority control. The only control that individuals have is how and where the funds are placed in order for them to grow. But Uncle Sam still oversees the placement of money with guidelines and regulations.

Protecting your retirement funds is not Uncle Sam’s priority. Chapter 2, “The Secret behind Qualified Money,” will expose the biggest and worst concerns qualified funds can present while other chapters will offer solutions to offset Uncle Sam’s control.

For More Information

Please reference article 1, “What Few Know about Their 401(k) and Other Qualified Retirement Funds.”

Chapter 1 - Review Questions

1. Retirement accounts are named after the IRS tax code they represent. Which of the following are proper tax codes for retirement accounts?

A. IRA and ROTH

B. 401(k) and 403(b)

C. Simple and SEP

D. All of the above

2. What is qualified money?

A. Money that meets IRS guidelines for retirement funds.

B. Money that is saved for retirement in a CD that is not an IRA.

C. Money that is not yet taxed and meant for retirement.

D. Both A and C.

3. Our money in a retirement account is mixed with government money (taxes that were deferred). Therefore, we must follow the rules, regulations, and guidelines set by the government; otherwise we will be penalized.

TRUE FALSE

4. The US government works hard to protect our qualified funds.

TRUE FALSE

Answers ^¹

Chapter 2 - The Secret behind Qualified Money

In chapter 1, we:

• identified the titles that retirement plans are assigned;

• clarified the term “qualified” that is often used when discussing retirement plans;

• put the relationship between qualified money and the US government in perspective;

• explained that the US government makes it difficult to protect qualified money.

Now we can examine a major burden that qualified money can place on retirees if not planned properly. Chapter 2 will expose the biggest and worst concern qualified funds can present.

A commonly unknown detail, and the major point to make in this chapter, is the vulnerability of qualified funds to be taken by the government and used for skilled long-term care needs prior to the individual accessing Medicaid. Unless properly protected, regardless of your situation, qualified funds can and will leave your spouse and family without the income and assets you have worked hard to build. Failure to protect your assets can be devastating!

Your qualified retirement funds are vulnerable for the following reasons.

• Qualified money must remain in the name and Social Security number of the person that is accumulating these funds. Doing so gives the federal government control and access to these funds for skilled nursing care (a nursing home) after the first one hundred days in a facility.

• Qualified money is at the mercy of the IRS and Congress. They set the guidelines and mandate regulations concerning your retirement plan, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, income tax brackets, required distributions, and estate tax levels. When applying for Medicaid, qualified funds must be spent down to state limits prior to Medicaid assistance.

Qualified Incomes

It is important when planning for retirement to position your assets to work in coordination with your working income. Without proper planning, long-term care issues can be devastating. Social Security and pensions are other forms of qualified money that are not protected from Uncle Sam. Both are incomes and are received regularly. Upon the need for nursing home care, these incomes are automatically taken into consideration and used to pay for care. Social Security, pensions, and qualified funds are self-insuring components. Therefore, they are factored into the equation when being financially evaluated by the Medicaid program in your state.

What happens if you are married? Protecting your assets is twice as important if you are married. Although qualified money is in your name and Social Security number, your assets are combined if your spouse enters a nursing home. Qualified income and assets can be used to help satisfy the cost of nursing home care for your spouse until the assets are spent down to the limits set by the state and federal governments. Imagine needing to enter a long-term care facility for which you had not planned accordingly. What would happen if portions of your incomes were diverted from your spouse?

Case Study 2.1

Several years ago, I met a woman that was very frustrated. She and her husband were retired and on a cruise in the Bahamas when he became dizzy with erratic blood pressure. He had had a small stroke, but it went undiagnosed, and he blamed the illness on the ocean. A few days after they arrived home, he had a major stroke, paralyzing him and sending him into a nursing home.

The couple had worked hard all their lives and were enjoying retirement. They had two homes, a sizable bank account, and qualified plans, but nothing was protected.

By the time the husband passed away, the couple had depleted their bank account and qualified investments to the allowable level before Medicaid stepped in, which at the time was less than one hundred thousand dollars in Massachusetts. Her life was changed forever. In order for the wife to meet her obligations, she had to sell her cottage to pay the remaining medical bills and create a lifestyle that would fit her new, reduced income.

Fact: According to ElderLaw Answers in Massachusetts (this may differ per state), Medicaid allows the spouse to maintain a portion of the joint assets, as of 2014, a maximum of $117,240. There is also a limit to the amount of home equity considered as a non-countable asset. Medicaid considers anything above that limit a countable asset.

There are two viable options to protect these funds:

• legal estate planning documents, designed to protect assets

• an insurance policy designed to fulfill the need for long-term care

In order to protect qualified assets, a legal or insurance program needs to be in place. Otherwise, assets need to be spent down to government limits so the individual will qualify for assistance.

As presented in chapter 1, the federal government has made qualified plans look attractive and beneficial by offering tax considerations. Although these tax considerations appear to be desirable, Uncle Sam has put a price on them, which can outweigh the benefits, reeling you into his domain. Your only option of escape is with the proper protection of your qualified funds with a legal or insurance program.

Irrevocable Retirement Plan Trust

There are two main reasons to use an irrevocable retirement plan trust rather than simply making the retirement plan payable to the surviving spouse. First, for state or federal estate taxes, this would permit the retirement plan to be kept outside the surviving spouse’s estate. Second, in the case of second marriages (or spendthrift spouses), this would protect the retirement plan for children and grandchildren. Funds are not placed in the trust until the individual passes away and, therefore, go unprotected and remain vulnerable till death. By using an irrevocable retirement trust, the spouse will not lose the opportunity to utilize the funds.

The trust is the designated beneficiary making the trust a qualified trust by the IRS. The trust is funded with retirement assets and can use the five-million-dollar tax exemption on the first spouse that passes away. The trust is not included in the spouse’s estate and may have more favorable calculations when determining required minimum distributions.

Long-term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance is designed to protect all assets by providing income to the individual to pay for services necessary to perform daily functions. Ultimately, the plan as designed will allow the individual to retain his or her income and assets as if the person did not need care. This in turn allows the individual and spouse to maintain the lifestyle they are accustomed to during this difficult time.

Fact: According to Employee Benefit Research Institute, “In 2012, only 14% of all individuals older than age 60 have a long term care insurance policy.” This means that for 86 percent of all individuals over sixty, if they have assets that are unprotected, they’re taking a risk and allowing the cards to land where they may.

It is advisable to seek professional advice from your estate planning attorney and CPA regarding these matters.

For More Information

Please reference article 1 at the end of the book, “What Few Know about Their 401(k) and Other Qualified Retirement Funds.”

Chapter 2 - Review Questions

1. What is the main message of this chapter?

A. Qualified money is no good.

B. Qualified money is vulnerable and can be used to pay for nursing home care if admitted to a nursing home after the first one hundred days.

C. Once a person is deceased, his or her qualified money can be protected with an IRS approved trust.

D. Both B and C.

2. The only program that can protect qualified income and assets from being used in the event you need nursing home care is:

A. Medicaid.

B. A long-term care insurance plan.

C. Medicare.

D. None of the above.

3. The US government works hard to protect our retirement plans from government intervention for long-term care use.

TRUE FALSE

4. Social Security and pensions are considered qualified income; therefore, they are taxable and vulnerable for long-term care prior to Medicaid.

TRUE FALSE

Answers ^²

Chapter 3 - Forced To Take Money Out And Forced To Pay Taxes

As presented in chapters 1 and 2, the US government decides the rules and regulations that govern qualified retirement plans since taxes have not been paid on these funds. Since qualified retirement funds must follow the guidelines of qualified plans, you are generally required by the government to begin taking withdrawals from your plans no later than the year you turn 70½. Citizens must take no less than the specified amount based on their age and one of the three Uniform Lifetime Tables (which is based on life expectancy) established by our government. This is called the required minimum distribution, or RMD, and it is 100 percent taxable.

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The above chart is from Table III, the most commonly used table to calculate RMD in IRS Publication 590.

To calculate your RMD:

• Take your age (as of your birthday that tax year) to find your divisor.

• Add the total of all your qualified accounts and divide them by the divisor in the chart.

Example: At age seventy-five, the divisor is currently 22.9. If you have $500,000 in qualified money, that amount divided by the divisor, 22.9, gives your RMD for the year as $21,834.06.

If you take less RMD than the required amount, you will be penalized 50 percent on the amount you failed to take plus interest.

Analyzing RMD and How It Affects Taxability

As you take RMDs, and as time goes on, the divisor gets smaller as in chart 3.1, but your subsequent RMDs may constitute a larger percentage of payout.

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As Chart 3.2, below, demonstrates, RMD increases due to decreasing divisor.

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In this example, the individual took his RMD ($21,834.06, or about 4.37 percent of $500,000) and nothing more. If the remaining principal grows greater than 4.37 percent and the divisor decreases each year, a larger distribution is required.

When adding an inherited qualified plan, which can be very complex, it is advisable to seek the opinion of a professional. The divisor doesn’t change, but the RMD may, possibly affecting your income taxes and net amount of your Social Security benefits.

$C:\Users\Marcia\Documents\AAA SELF PUB BOOKS\AAUTHORS AND CLIENTS\Mark Cardonza\ebook files\smaller images\revised images\chart-3.3.jpg$

In this next example, illustrated in chart 3.3, the individual inherited her spouse’s qualified plan at age eighty-one. Although she and her husband took their RMDs while both were alive, they benefited by having more deductions and exemptions while filing their taxes as married filing jointly. Chart 3.3 demonstates the RMD of one individual (widowed), now at an older age with a smaller divisor.

Chart 3.3 shows the combined effect of charts 3.1 and 3.2 while adding an inherited qualified plan at age eighty-one. Receiving an inherited qualified plan results from the death of a loved one who has named you as a beneficiary. It creates a change in tax exemptions and deductions. If inherited from a spouse, your tax status changes from married filing jointly to single, which can also change your tax bracket.

Acknowledgements

Preface

How to Get the Most Out of This Book

Section I - Getting To Know Your Retirement Plan

Chapter 1 - Qualified Retirement Plans

Chapter 1 - Review Questions

Chapter 2 - The Secret behind Qualified Money

Chapter 2 - Review Questions

Chapter 3 - Forced To Take Money Out And Forced To Pay Taxes