You inherited an IRA or employer-plan account
Inherited a retirement account? Get the timeline organized.
Inherited retirement accounts involve deadlines and distribution rules that depend on the owner, the beneficiary, and the account history. We organize the timeline and coordinate it with your tax professional and custodian — we do not provide tax or legal advice.
Complimentary and educational. A licensed specialist reviews it with you by Zoom or phone in about 20 minutes — no product presentation.
12+ years each
Retirement & income planning experience
3,000+
Retirement income strategies reviewed
$3 billion+
Retirement assets analyzed
Each of our Experts brings at least 12 years of successful college funding and retirement planning experience, beginning with A+ Rated Carrier Training.
What your Inherited Account Timeline shows
- Which beneficiary category applies to you
- Whether the owner died before or after the required beginning date
- The distribution period and deadlines that follow from those facts
- Questions to route to your tax professional and the custodian
What a good outcome looks like
A written timeline, the right questions in front of the right professionals, and one clear next action.
The questions we work through
- Were you a spouse, an eligible designated beneficiary, or another beneficiary?
- Did the owner die before or after the required beginning date?
- What are your tax, income, liquidity, and legacy priorities across the applicable period?
How the follow-through works
- Day 0: Send the inherited-account fact sheet.
- Day 3: Call to gather account and date facts.
- Day 8: Deliver the draft timeline.
- Day 14: Coordinate with the tax professional.
- Day 25: Confirm the distribution decision and next action.
You decide the pace. At any point you can ask us to follow up later or close the loop entirely.
Common questions
Inherited IRA Planning Campaign: the questions people ask first
What are the rules for an inherited IRA now?+
Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited in 2020 or later must empty the account within ten years, and beneficiaries of an owner who had already begun required distributions generally also take annual withdrawals during that window. Spouses have separate, more flexible options.
How do I avoid a big tax bill on an inherited IRA?+
By spreading withdrawals deliberately across the ten years instead of taking a lump sum or waiting until year ten, and by coordinating them with your own income, Medicare premiums, and any large one-time deductions. The tax outcome is driven by timing more than by investment choice.
Can I just leave the inherited money alone?+
Not indefinitely. Missing a required withdrawal carries a penalty, and letting the balance ride until the final year concentrates the entire tax bill into one return, often pushing you into a higher bracket for that year.
Pick your time
Select a window for our team to verify your information and schedule your Expert match call
Pick a window and our team calls first to verify your details and confirm what to review. Then we match you to the right licensed specialist for your Tele-Wealth consultation. No pitch — we walk through your answers, your numbers, and what to fix first.
Smart Match — the right expert for you: We don't randomly assign you to whoever is available. We review your questionnaire answers and match you with an experienced Fiduciary Retirement Specialist who can best address your situation — then they stay with you from there.
Select My Verification Window →Plans change — that's fine. You can reschedule or cancel in a couple of clicks, any time, without calling or emailing us.
This review is educational and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and is not an offer or solicitation. Annuities are long-term insurance products that may involve fees, surrender charges, withdrawal limits, and tax consequences; guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer. Bank deposits and annuity contracts are not protected in the same manner. Rollovers and replacements are evaluated as balanced decisions, including the option to keep what you have. We coordinate with — and never substitute for — your tax and legal professionals.
Our fiduciary commitment
We only refer you to Retirement Experts who are obligated to act as a fiduciary at all times — legally bound to put your interests ahead of their own on every single recommendation they make to you.
Every Expert we refer must also be willing to give you a written Fiduciary Pledge — a signed legal statement confirming that duty to you in writing. If an Expert will not put it in writing, we will not refer you to them. Just ask for it on your call.
Read and download the Fiduciary Pledge