Jim and Chris discuss listener emails, opening with listener PSAs on Medicare Advantage HSA reimbursement eligibility, then moving into questions on Social Security beneficiary rules and finishing their look at conduit trusts for IRAs.

(7:00) A listener asks whether Social Security benefits can be passed on to a significant other.

(28:00) The guys continue from last week with a listener’s multi-part question on whether a conduit trust should be structured to distribute RMDs before allowing any additional withdrawals — as a strategy for controlling how beneficiaries access inherited IRA funds. The listener also asks what else could trigger a large tax bill in that setup, and whether a conduit trust provides creditor protection.

(1:15:30) George asks for the follow-up promised at the end of a recent episode — specifically, the better approach for having a trust inherit an IRA when you’re concerned about an heir mismanaging the funds.

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Chris’s Summary
Jim and I discuss the Ed Slott quiz questions from his November advisor training, opening with the widow/widower tax penalty and required beginning dates for IRA required minimum distributions before moving into inherited IRA rules — year of death RMDs with multiple beneficiaries and the deadline for satisfying them, spousal rollover options, and spousal RMD timing.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I dig into the Ed Slott quiz from my November advisor training — 20 questions, open book, and I scored 100 this time. We have been doing this for years and it is not just a matter of asking the question, giving the answer and moving on. We get into the rabbit holes, explain the nuances, and use it as a chance for everybody listening to test their own knowledge.

We open with the widow/widower tax penalty and required beginning dates for IRA required minimum distributions — and the widow/widower question has nothing to do with IRAs but everything to do with retirement planning. The younger a spouse passes away the more intense the penalty, and the longer both of you live together the less it bites.

From there we get deep into inherited IRA rules, which make up the bulk of the episode. How year of death RMDs work when there are multiple beneficiaries, and what the deadline is for satisfying them — there is a question in here that Ed Slott himself argued both sides of for years because the IRS never gave guidance until July 2024. We close on spousal rollover options and RMD timing rules that only apply to surviving spouses. A spouse has choices that no other beneficiary has, and the decision of which way to go can look very different depending on the ages involved. Chris makes the point well — whenever a spouse dies, hit the pause button before you do anything.

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Chris’s Summary
With Jim at the T3 conference in New Orleans, I am joined by Jake Turner to cover how to factor a defined benefit pension into retirement planning, using the situation of a 45-year-old law enforcement officer with a non-covered pension as the backdrop. We walk through evaluating his savings rate against the 15–20% rule of thumb, the lump sum equivalent value of his pension income, why the presence or absence of a COLA matters significantly, and how pension income fits into covering essential expenses over a long retirement.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
While I’m at the T3 conference in New Orleans, Chris and Jake use a listener’s situation to dig into retirement planning with a defined benefit pension. The listener is a 45-year-old law enforcement officer who has been contributing to his pension since day one but only started building outside accounts five years ago. He wants to know where he actually stands — and the answer is more nuanced than a simple savings rate comparison can capture.

A big part of that nuance is whether the pension is a non-covered one, meaning it replaces Social Security rather than sitting alongside it. That single distinction changes how you benchmark the savings rate entirely, and it’s the kind of thing that gets glossed over when people just throw out rules of thumb without knowing what’s underneath them. Chris and Jake also get into how pension income fits against the Minimum Dignity Floor — and why a pension that looks rock solid at retirement can tell a very different story decades later if there’s no cost-of-living adjustment attached to it.

There’s also a conversation worth hearing about lump sum options — what they’re actually worth, how to think about comparing them to the lifetime income stream, and why the big number isn’t always the better answer. If you have a defined benefit pension and you’ve been wondering how it fits into the bigger retirement picture, or whether you’re ahead or behind where you should be, this episode covers the framework for thinking it through.

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Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on PSAs regarding IRMAA reimbursements, RMD in-kind transfers, and naming a conduit trust as a retirement account beneficiary.

(8:15) A listener shares a PSA that an IRMAA reimbursement was applied as a credit balance drawn down over several months rather than a lump sum.

(17:00) The guys discuss a listener PSA on SSA-44 filing: when income is underestimated and IRMAA is owed, Medicare reconciles the difference the following November or December with no penalties or interest assessed.

(33:45) George asks whether an RMD can be satisfied through an in-kind transfer of mutual funds to a brokerage account, and whether only a portion needs to be sold to cover the tax bill.

(46:00) Jim and Chris take up a listener question about naming a conduit trust as a contingent beneficiary for retirement accounts, kicking off Part 1 of a broader discussion on see-through and conduit trusts — what each structure is, how they differ, and what happens when an IRA names a trust as its beneficiary. They begin exploring the tax implications and planning considerations involved, noting that these arrangements can create both benefits and unintended complications depending on how they’re set up. The conversation will continue on the next week’s Q&A episode, where they’ll complete this listener’s question and address additional questions received on the topic.

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Chris’s Summary
Jim and I continue our discussion on 99 Retirement Tips from Fisher Investments, picking up where we left off last week. We cover involving children in financial decisions, the liquidity trade-off of paying off a mortgage early, renting before buying in a new retirement location, lifetime gifts as part of the fun budget, and watching for financial predators including a disputed suggestion that low advisor fees may be a warning sign.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I are back where we left off, working through Fisher Investments’ 99 Retirement Tips, and there’s still plenty to dig into. Tip 23 makes the case for involving your children in your financial decisions — and the reasons go deeper than most people think about. Tip 26 gets into mortgage payoff, and while we partially agree with what Fisher says about it — paying it down doesn’t change your net worth. But it does change your liquidity, and that distinction is worth considering.

Tip 32 is one I feel personally right now: if you’re relocating in retirement, rent first. Never move anywhere with a vacation mindset. I’m doing it in Ohio as we speak, and I’d tell anyone thinking about a move to do the same. Tip 74 recommends lifetime gifting — and the way we handle it, that spending belongs in your Fun Number budget. There’s no written rule you have to wait until you’re gone to help the people you care about.

And tip 86 covers financial predators, which is largely solid — but there’s one line in there that made my blood boil when I read it. The implication is that an advisor charging lower fees might be a warning sign. I have never seen any consumer advocate say that. The 99 retirement tips review of this particular point raises a question worth sitting with: who exactly benefits from that framing?

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Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on Social Security survivor benefits, IRMAA relief and the SSA-44 process, the Social Security earnings test, disclaiming inheritances that are brokerage accounts, and Roth conversion rules for retirees.

(6:00) A listener asks whether his wife’s early Social Security claim at 62 would reduce the survivor benefit she’d receive upon his death.

(14:00) George asks several questions stemming from a successful SSA-44 IRMAA relief request, including whether a retroactive refund is due, whether Step 3 covers the following year, and whether a separate filing is needed for his own income reduction.

(27:30) Jim and Chris respond to a listener who clarifies that benefits withheld under the Social Security earnings test are deferred, not lost, and are returned as a higher benefit at full retirement age.

(31:00) Georgette asks when it makes sense to disclaim an inherited brokerage account and whether passing the assets directly to their children is the right move.

(40:45) The guys are asked about the rules and tax implications of converting brokerage account funds to a Roth IRA, including whether having no earned income in retirement disqualifies someone from doing

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Chris’s Summary
Jim and I review Fisher Investments’ 99 Retirement Tips and begin working through the list, covering only a handful in this episode. We discuss estate planning basics such as having a will, the importance of reviewing estate documents, and considering living wills and trusts, with emphasis on incapacity planning. We then examine longevity statistics, why life expectancy at birth is often misapplied, and how that connects to retirement income decisions, including Fisher’s warning on annuities.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I start digging into Fisher Investments’ 99 Retirement Tips and, true to form, we only make it through a few because I may have wandered down a rabbit hole or two. The estate planning stuff is straightforward—have a will, review it, don’t ignore the documents that matter if you’re alive but not fully capable. Death is easy administratively. Incapacity is where things get messy, and that’s where families struggle. And that’s where better planning matters most.

Then we get into longevity. If you’re going to say people might live longer than they think, you better use the right numbers. Not the “life expectancy at birth” headline stat. If a couple makes it to 65, the odds shift. That matters. That changes the runway. That changes how you think about income. It also changes how long that portfolio has to work, and how long decisions have to hold up.

And from there we run into the annuity warning. We’re not pro-annuity and we’re not anti-annuity. Many deserve criticism, but if longevity risk is real—and it can be—then you should evaluate lifetime income options on their merits. Social Security is guaranteed lifetime income. Income annuities are too, so they should belong in the conversation. Whether you use them depends on the situation, but you can’t talk about taking longevity seriously and then issue a blanket warning against annuities.

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