Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map

Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map
The book also has the following subtitles:
 * The Leave-Nothing-to-Chance, Worry-Free, All-Systems-Go Guide
 * A comprehensive action plan for securing your IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement plans for yourself and your family.

Don’t get confused by the book’s title. This is not a general guide for your retirement financial planning. Rather, it focuses on the tax-advantaged savings plans that form the backbone of most retirement plans. In five focused sections, Ed Slott combines crucial facts with detailed checklists and questionnaires to teach investors and beneficiaries alike the best way to save and to maximize the value of their tax-advantaged plans. Inside this book you’ll discover:

• An overview of every retirement savings account you own–from what it is and where it is to who gets it and how, plus where to put important data

• How to properly fill out retirement account beneficiary forms so that money goes to whomever you choose and not to relatives who pop up out of nowhere

• What to do when you inherit so that you won’t lose any tax benefits or make a mistake that could wipe out an inherited fortune that took years to build up

• How to handle out-of-the-box issues such as divorce or incapacity; tax issues for unmarried partners; decisions about trusts

• How to determine whether your professional retirement adviser is really up to the task of preserving and protecting your money

• The most up-to-date information on tax laws, including the Pension Protection Act, which provides major new retirement incentives that you can take advantage of

About the author
Ed Slott, CPA, is a nationally recognized retirement account expert and a professional speaker at conferences nationwide. He created Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group, an exclusive registry of financial advisors. Slott has authored a number of books, including Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune and The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It. He publishes Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor, a monthly newsletter for financial professionals.

Ed Slott was named "The Best" source for IRA advice by The Wall Street Journal and called "America's IRA Expert" by Mutual Funds Magazine. Ed is a widely recognized professional speaker and educator specializing in retirement distribution planning, teaching both financial advisors and consumers how to best take advantage of our complicated tax code.

Table of Contents
SECTION I: MY ACCOUNT INVENTORY
 * General Information Forms

SECTION II: THE ACCOUNT OWNER’S CARE SOLUTION
 * Part 1: My Beneficiary Form Checklist
 * Part 2: My Custodial Agreement Checklist
 * Part 3: My Stretch Opportunity Checklist
 * Part 4: My Retirement Assets and Estate Plan Checklist
 * Part 5: My RMD Calculation Checklist
 * Part 6: My Rollover/Lump-Sum Decision Checklist

SECTION III: THE ACCOUNT BENEFICIARY’S CARE SOLUTION
 * Part 1: The Nonspouse Beneficiary’s (an Individual) Checklist
 * Part 2: The Spouse Beneficiary’s Checklist
 * Part 3: The Multiple Beneficiaries’ Checklist
 * Part 4: The Successor Beneficiary’s Checklist
 * Part 5: The Tax Breaks for Beneficiaries Checklist
 * Part 6: The IRD Checklist

SECTION IV: THE SPECIAL ISSUES CARE SOLUTION
 * Part 1: The Naming a Charity-As-Beneficiary Checklist
 * Part 2: The Naming a Trust-As Beneficiary Checklist
 * Part 3: The Disclaimer Planning Checklist
 * Part 4: The Divorce Checklist
 * Part 5: The Early-Distribution Exceptions- 72(t) Payments Checklist
 * Part 6: The Early-Distribution – Other Exceptions Checklist
 * Part 7: The Tax Breaks for Lump-Sum Distribution Checklist
 * Part 8: The Incapacity Checklist
 * Part 9: The Same Sex and Unmarried Couple Checklist
 * Part 10: The Alternative Investments and Prohibited Transactions Checklist
 * Part 11: The Roth IRA Conversion Checklist

SECTION V: THE FOLLOW-UP CARE SOLUTION
 * Part 1: My Year-End Checklist
 * Part 2: My Advisor Checkup Tool

Reader Comments
Having read a number of Ed Slott’s other books, I was at first rather surprised by the radically different format for this one. Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map is actually a compilation of checklists related to every existing type of retirement savings plan and every situation that might arise with those owning them. As should be apparent from the Table of Contents, every situation has been dealt with.

There is some explanatory text that accompanies each checklist. But the explanatory material is minimal and not really enough for those who haven’t read some of Slott’s other books. But for those who have had that pleasure, this book becomes the “capstone” resource. It’s just like having Ed Slott looking over your shoulder, making sure you correctly apply all the concepts so painstakingly (and clearly!) explained in the other books.

So first go out and read one or more of Ed Slott’s other books. Then use the checklists in this book to make sure you’ve properly applied the concepts to your personal situation. ThePrune

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