By Nandini Wamorkar

Many of us are of the opinion that estate planning is only applicable to those who have many millions in assets. It’s easy to think “I have a will so I am covered.” We end up missing the fact that estate planning is important and is not limited to the creation of a will; for example, the simple task of designating our beneficiaries for IRA and other tax deferred accounts can have great importance. These beneficiaries will inherit your accounts directly from your designation—not through your will.  Many people are unaware of this technicality and therefore do not update their beneficiaries as life changes, instead leaving in place the original designation they had to make some years ago when they first opened a tax deferred account.
Read More…