Call to action: protect the value of inherited IRAs. American IRA, a National Provider of Self-Directed IRAs, announces recent proposed provision removal. According to the Washington Bureau “Retirement industry officials are gearing up to remove a provision in Senate legislation that would reduce the value of inherited IRAs.”

The Washington Bureau recently reported that there is a provision included in S. 1813, the Highway Investment, Job Creation, and Economic Growth Act that would reduce the value of inherited IRAs also known as ‘Stretch IRAs’. The report goes on to explain “these ‘stretch IRAs’ are sometimes used to reduce taxes by people who designated a young person as a beneficiary, thereby giving them a long opportunity to increase the value of the IRA through inside buildup.”

Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA says, “The removal of this provision will greatly reduce the value of IRAs and your ability to pass the full benefit of those IRAs on to your loved ones. If you care about the value of your IRA and those that you will be leaving your IRA to…contact your representative and let them know that you strongly oppose the removal of this provision.”

For those that need to understand the current benefits of ‘stretch IRAs’, Wachovia Securities has done a great job of explaining ‘Stretch IRAs’ in their e-booklet “The Advantages of a ‘Stretch IRA’.” This booklet high-lights the advantages such as:

• Payments May Be Spread Over a Longer Period of Time
• IRA Assets are Tax-Deferred Even While Payments are being Made to Beneficiaries
• Those Who Have Inherited IRAs are Able to Name Their Own Beneficiaries for Those Accounts

Jim Hitt, concludes “You are probably wondering why they call it a ‘Stretch IRA’. With a Traditional IRA, you must start taking distributions by April 1st of the year following the year you reach age 70 1/2. The distribution amounts required are based on the value of your account as of December 31st of the preceding year divided by your life expectancy (as show on pages 86 through page 102 of IRS Publication 590). The ‘stretch’ comes into play because spouses, children, and grandchildren that inherit IRAs can take minimum distributions based on their life expectancy in some cases and in other cases, surviving spouses can decide to take RMD based on their deceased spouses age, thus the term ‘stretch’. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to get in touch with your representative and let them know you strongly oppose the proposed removal of this provision as its removal will decrease the value of inherited IRAs and negatively affect your loved ones.”