Who are your designated beneficiaries?

12 Jul 2024 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:01

In this short monologue, Jerry Taylor warns viewers that the people listed as designated beneficiaries on financial accounts—such as 401(k)s, IRAs, checking and savings accounts, and life‑insurance policies—automatically inherit those assets, overriding any instructions in a will or trust. He highlights common pitfalls: after divorce or remarriage, an ex‑spouse may remain the beneficiary; if a child was named years ago, that child receives everything even if more children have been born; and a will’s split‑among‑children directive is ignored if the account’s beneficiary designation lists only one person. Taylor urges the audience to immediately review and update their beneficiary designations, especially after major life changes, and includes a call‑to‑action to click his picture/Linktree for his newsletter.

Chapters

Can you answer this? If something were to happen to you, who would inherit your retirement accounts, your 401, your IRA? How about your checking account, your savings account, your life insurance policy? If you don't know the answer to that right now, you better check because it may not be who you want it to be. If you've gotten divorced and remarried, your ex-spouse may still be on there. If years ago you placed one child on there and now you've had another child, The first child will get it all. Or how about this? Your will says, I'd like my IRA to be split between my 3 children equally, but your IRA actually only has 1 child listed as beneficiary. Guess what? The 1 child will get it all. The people you have listed as your designated beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, your checking accounts, your life insurance policy, those people win out regardless of what you said in your will or your trust. Right here, click on my picture and my Linktree to get my newsletter. If you don't know the answers to all these things off the top of your head, Go and check right now.