Just over 10 years ago, in June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously, 9-0, that inherited IRAs are NOT protected in bankruptcy under federal law. The primary issue before the Court was whether an inherited IRA is a “retirement account.” Considering the fact that “inherited IRA” is short for “inherited individual retirement arrangement,” this would seem like an odd question to debate. The word “retirement” is right there in the name. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court felt that three primary characteristics of inherited IRAs were not features of a “retirement” account. Those three characteristics were:

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! We hope you and your family had an enjoyable holiday season. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you pursue your financial goals. We are excited to see what the new year will bring. The year 2024 was filled with many significant events, but overall, it proved to be a good year for investors. Both interest and inflation rates started to fall, and while recession worries persisted, investors still enjoyed strong positive returns as major indexes reached multiple new highs.