Notes

Notes of Handling the Boomer Inheritance

by ZMDR
Friday, March 25, 2011 

 used his share, plus.., to buy and restore...

More from Forbes.com: • 10 Tips for Potential Heirs • 10 Steps to Get All The Pension You Earned • The Best Retirement Places

...in a 1,000-square-foot, solar-heated home. With the help of both volunteers and hired hands, (They're nurturing another 450 native plants in a greenhouse for planting this spring.)

...to paying guests....hope to attract stargazers,

... estimates that 70% of baby boomer households will receive inheritances.— an average of nearly $300,000 per inheriting household, with the wealthiest 10% receiving an average of $1.5 million. ...thers will give to charity or their kids, Here are pointers for handling an inheritance.

Keep It Separate

In most states an inheritance is the separate property of the spouse who received it — so long as the heir keeps it separate. So think carefully before you put the money in a joint account with your spouse or use it to make major improvements on a jointly owned home.

 It allows you to protect the funds from your spouse's creditors. ... if the inheriting spouse is in a high-risk profession ,it can make sense to put the money in a joint account or shift it to the other spouse for protection...

Stretch Out That IRA

Review Your Own Estate Plan

Feed Your Retirement Accounts

While ..that money is fungible. If you're ...ing and not ...ting ... to, consider using ... for ... and diverting ... into....

Most private employees age 50 and older can contribute a maximum of $22,000 a year to a 401(k) and $6,000 to an IRA or Roth IRA. But small-business owners with custom retirement plans and state employees with multiple savings options can defer lots more. Janet Briaud, a financial planner in Bryan, Tex., advises a two-professor couple (state university employees) who are putting $71,000 a year each into retirement plans while using the wife's $1 million inheritance for living expenses.

Be Careful With Offshore Money

 If you keep money abroad, Briaud warns, you must report it on your 1040 and a special annual report to the Treasury or face severe sanctions.

Plan With Your Parents