Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune (Hardcover)

by Ed Slott (Author) "This book is based on one simple, but powerful, premise: The longer your IRA is sheltered from taxes, the more it will grow in accumulated..." (more)
Key Phrases: oldest trust beneficiary, trust tax rates, conduit trust, Year Age, Uncle Sam, Life Required Roth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Ed Slott knows more about the care and feeding of IRAs than anybody else. -- Saul Friedman, Newsday

One of the country's leading IRA experts. -- Reader's Digest

Slott guides you… with a sense of humor and a firm grasp of the costly pitfalls that await the unwary. -- Priscilla Brandon, Kiplinger's Retirement Report

Review
One of the country's leading IRA experts. (Reader's Digest) Ed Slott knows more about the care and feeding of IRAs than anybody else. (Saul Friedman, Newsday) Slott guides you… with a sense of humor and a firm grasp of the costly pitfalls that await the unwary. (Priscilla Brandon, Kiplinger's Retirement Report)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (December 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033960
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033966
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent strategic planning, March 12, 2005

By	Joyce Banks (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

Ed Slott has produced a gem of a book. His message is targeted to those of us who don't plan to use up our entire IRA savings account during our own lifetimes, but plan to leave some of those savings for our heirs. If you can make that money grow by investing wisely, Slott shows you the secret of making that money last (he calls it `stretching') for the lifetime of your beneficiary (and even longer). It really is possible to convert your IRA into a family fortune.

There are three important steps to take. The first is converting to a Roth IRA. The next is to carefully choose the correct beneficiary. It must be one person. More than one beneficiary is OK, but it's crucial to set up a new IRA account for each. Be certain that your beneficiaries understand the steps necessary to stretch their IRAs to last the lifetime of their heirs.

The third step involves hiring an IRA advisor. The laws are tricky and things must be done just right. Fortunately, Slott provides directions on just how to get started. Although I was reluctant to take this step, he points out the importance of hiring an IRA advisor and how to go about finding one who is competent. It's too important to trust just anyone.

By carefully reading this book and following the instructions, you can arrange for your savings to continue to compound - tax deferred - for years.

If I found one fault with the book, it's that it lacks advice on just how to get the money in your IRA account to grow at a satisfactory rate. These are not the 1990's and one cannot simply park money in the stock market and watch it increase in value daily. Fortunately, I recently came across another new book that fills the gap. CREATE YOUR OWN HEDGE FUND describes a method of investing that taught me how to hedge (reduce the risk of owning) a portfolio of index funds (ETFs). The book is a tutorial on how and why this method is suitable for most investors.

I recommend both books as a way to build your IRA account and make it last for generations.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent information on Trust and IRAs, November 25, 2005

By	Vivek Thoppay "Financial Advisor" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ed does a great job on giving you detailed information of how to stretch your IRA assets for the next generation. He also does a great job of including information on how to write your trust so that you can control your assets beyond the grave. This is mainly important for clients who have lots of assets in their IRAs or for people who just pass away before they use their IRA assets. Since you don't know when you are going to pass away, I think it is important to get your trust and your IRA beneficiaries set up as soon as possible.

One downside of this book is that Ed seems to sell more of his stuff - his newsletter and his training. If you read his books, I think you have most of the information you need unless you run into very complicated situations. If that happens, then I would suggest getting a good financial advisor, CPA, and an estate planning lawyer to assist you.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Little added, September 3, 2005

By	R Son of Andres "type A" - See all my reviews

Ed Slott repeated alot of what was included in "The Retirement Savings Time Bomb...", so I was not as impressed with this book. You can get 98% of what to do in the "Time Bomb". But if you really want to save all your money to your kids and their kids, it should help you.