Advice needed: Annuities in an Inherited IRA

[Ottoford]

My husband has an inherited IRA with Ameriprise that has John Hancock annuities in it.  His mother used Ameriprise, but we are not fans of them.  Our ultimate goal is to sell the annuities then move the inherited IRA to somewhere other than Ameriprise.

When we called Ameriprise to sell the annuities they said we had to call John Hancock.  When we called John Hancock, they said they could cash out the annuity and but can only send us a check in the mail.  I am afraid if they send a check in the mail that we will wind up having to pay taxes.  But I also think there may be a 60 day period that we have to redeposit that into an inherited or beneficiary IRA.

My questions is - can we get a check from John Hancock, then open a beneficiary IRA with our preferred brokerage company and simply deposit that into the account without having to pay taxes on it?

We know there will be an RMD, but we don't want all the money this year.  It's around $50k.

Thanks

[terran]

If you were getting a check from the company that held the IRA (Ameriprise) I would be able to say unequivocally that you could make a rollover contribution to an IRA at another company as long as the contribution was made within 60 days. The fact that the money is coming from somewhere else would make me a little nervous, so I don't want to give a definite answer, but just wanted to let you know that you're at least on the right track with the 60 rollover.

Note that you can make only one 60-day rollover per 12 month period (not per calendar year), so if it turns out that this can be a 60 day rollover then you won't also be able to do a rollover of any remaining assets in the Ameriprise IRA (you could do a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer though).

[Sibley]

What company are you going to use going forward? I've had great success in having Vanguard help with all the paperwork to transfer accounts, including them helping me fill out the paperwork I have to do.

[MDM]

What company are you going to use going forward? I've had great success in having Vanguard help with all the paperwork to transfer accounts, including them helping me fill out the paperwork I have to do.

+1

A good rule of thumb: start with the company receiving the funds, not the company sending the funds.

[Ottoford]

If you were getting a check from the company that held the IRA (Ameriprise) I would be able to say unequivocally that you could make a rollover contribution to an IRA at another company as long as the contribution was made within 60 days. The fact that the money is coming from somewhere else would make me a little nervous, so I don't want to give a definite answer, but just wanted to let you know that you're at least on the right track with the 60 rollover.

Note that you can make only one 60-day rollover per 12 month period (not per calendar year), so if it turns out that this can be a 60 day rollover then you won't also be able to do a rollover of any remaining assets in the Ameriprise IRA (you could do a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer though).

The one rollover per 60 day period I was unaware of.  There are still some (4) Riversource annuities that have not been moved from the decedents IRA account to the inherited IRA.  Ameriprise has not been a joy to deal with.

[Ottoford]

What company are you going to use going forward? I've had great success in having Vanguard help with all the paperwork to transfer accounts, including them helping me fill out the paperwork I have to do.

We primarily use E-Trade.  They haven't been unhelpful, but I assume someone like Vanguard would be more helpful. 

[Ottoford]

It might be worthwhile reaching out to E-Trade just to see if they may be helpful.  Perhaps I should wait for the Riversource annuities to make their way into the Inherited IRA account.

I appreciate all of the advice.

[FIREsigns]

The CARES Act allows you to skip the RMD in 2020. Speak to the receiving company re: making this happen. Can be done with a phone call in their recorded line. Recently did this with TIAA.

[Ottoford]

The CARES Act allows you to skip the RMD in 2020. Speak to the receiving company re: making this happen. Can be done with a phone call in their recorded line. Recently did this with TIAA.

I will check with Ameriprise. I’m leaning towards getting the check from John Hancock and putting it back into the Ameriprise IRA.  Also sell the riversource IRA’s. Then once it is all cash I’ll move the account. Will definitely skip RMD this year.

Thanks