Immediate fixed annuities and deferred fixed annuities are finding a growing market in the wake of the financial market meltdown. It’s no wonder. Their guaranteed payout rates are more than 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively at a time...

There are some measures taxpayers can take to soften the toll frauds have taken on their retirement plans

It seems counterintuitive, but qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs) can make a lot of sense now. QPRTs are generally not considered effective in a low interest rate environment.

Most estate-planning attorneys come across clients who want to attach some sort of condition on gifts they make to descendants and other beneficiaries. And most estate-planning lawyers know that conditions creating restraints against marriage...

For recently unemployed clients short on cash, try using 72(t) to withdraw penalty free from the client’s IRA. Here’s how to do it.

For some time, prominent commentators have requested that the Internal Revenue Service publish official guidance to deal with this increasingly common scenario:1 A deceased spouse's IRA is payable to a trust in which the surviving spouse is the...

The growing number of retirees, their increased life expectancies and the size of their savings led us to wonder: How much accumulated income-producing wealth is needed to maintain a desired lifestyle? In other words, given a target level of...