If you die first, your surviving spouse can “roll over” your tax-deferred account into his/her own IRA, further delaying income taxes until he/she must start taking required minimum distributions on April 1 after age 70 1/2.

When your spouse does the rollover, he/she must name a new beneficiary, preferably someone much younger, as your children and/or grandchildren would be. After your spouse dies, the beneficiary’s actual life expectancy can be used for the remaining required minimum distributions. The results, shown in the chart below, can be phenomenal.

For example, let’s say your grandson is 20 when he inherits a $100,000 IRA from your spouse. Over the next 63 years (the life expectancy of a 20-year-old), the $100,000 IRA can provide him with over $1.7 million in income!

Under current IRS policy, your spouse can do this rollover and stretch out the IRA even if you had started taking required minimum distributions before you died.

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TOTAL INCOME FROM IRA OVER BENEFICIARY’S LIFETIME*

Age 20, Life Expectancy 63.0 Years
Value of $50,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $882,865
Value of $100,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $1,765,731
Value of $500,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $8,828,658

Age 30, Life Expectancy 53.3 Years
Value of $50,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $526,612
Value of $100,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $1,053,225
Value of $500,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $5,266,128

Age 40, Life Expectancy 43.6 Years
Value of $50,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $321,210
Value of $100,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $642,421
Value of $500,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $3,212,106

Age 50, Life Expectancy 34.2 Years
Value of $50,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $201,067
Value of $100,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $402,134
Value of $500,000 IRA When Inherited by Beneficiary = $2,010,671

* Assumptions: 7% annual return; only required minimum distributions withdrawn. Income subject to income taxes.