Katharine Paljug is a financial writer and editor with over a decade of industry experience. Her writing has covered nearly every aspect of the financial world, from investing in forex to paying for ...

Understanding the difference between per stirpes and per capita can determine whether your grandchildren receive an inheritance or are unintentionally left out.

You cannot name a legal minor as a beneficiary. This applies to almost all legal documents, most notably wills and life insurance policies. The significant exception to this rule is trusts. You can ...

A spousal beneficiary rollover is a transfer of assets to a surviving spouse from a deceased spouse's retirement accounts. It can involve rollover into the spouse's IRA or inheritance as a lump sum.

One of the most important aspects of estate planning is choosing who you’d like to be your beneficiaries. A beneficiary is someone who is named to receive a financial gift from an estate or a specific ...

A beneficiary designation is a document — usually a simple form — that tells a financial institution or insurance company who ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bob Carlson researches all facets of retirement finances. Beneficiary designations are one of the major gaps in many retirement ...

It is surprisingly easy and common to make mistakes when designating beneficiaries on retirement and investment accounts. While you may think it isn’t a big deal, mistakes with beneficiaries can be ...

Because, when the couple was dating in the 1980s, Mr. Rolison had listed Ms. Sjostedt as the sole beneficiary of his retirement account, and then never updated the form to designate a new beneficiary, ...

When naming designated beneficiaries of individual retirement accounts, it’s usually best to avoid naming a trust, as this could disqualify not only the trust but also any individuals named as ...

You might want to keep this column attached to your TSP-3 beneficiary designation form. My associate Joe Sullender, senior vice president for investments at Wells Fargo Advisors, recently became aware ...