Naming a bank account beneficiary ensures your money goes straight to your loved ones without getting tied up in costly, time-consuming probate. Most banks let you do this through a “Payable on Death” ...

Banks and other financial institutions don’t automatically ask account holders to designate a beneficiary, so it can be easy to forget or postpone adding a beneficiary until it’s more convenient. But ...

When people think about estate planning, they often focus on wills and trusts. But one of the most important decisions about where your money goes after you die might not appear in those documents.

Updating beneficiaries as you prepare your annual tax return is a natural way to get two important jobs done at the same time ...

A newly acquired individual retirement account (IRA) is good financial news for the recipient, but clients may need help unraveling the host of rules and requirements regulating how and when ...

The election by the spouse beneficiary of an IRA will affect the rate at which distributions must be taken and the income tax owed. And with the new restrictions explained under the proposed required ...

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 ...

Time to catch up on some of the questions that readers have sent in. Q: I've read that you can add a payable on death beneficiary to a car title. I've gone to the BMV website but I can't find a form.