Latest Strategies to comply with the Secure Act

The SECURE Act brought sweeping changes to the post-death tax treatment of qualified retirement accounts. Specifically, it eliminated the prior “stretch” treatment of post-death distributions for most non-spouse beneficiaries, making them subject to the so-called 10-Year Rule. The Act also mandated the full withdrawal of certain accounts within 10 years of the accountholder’s death for most non-spouse beneficiaries. Further, it created a new type of beneficiary: the eligible designated beneficiary (EDB). These are changes that many clients may not be aware of, especially those who haven’t reviewed their retirement or estate plans in recent years.

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Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”)

Regulation Best Interest (BI) is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule (effective July 1, 2020) that requires broker-dealers to only recommend financial products and services to their customers that are in their customer’s best interests, and to clearly identify any potential conflicts of interest and financial incentives the broker-dealer may have with those products. Previously, brokers were only held to the “suitability standard. This meant that when brokers advised their clients in the past, they only had to recommend investments that were suitable, but not necessarily in their client’s best interest. Regulation Best Interest aims to hold brokers to a higher standard. In addition, the new regulation also imposes four obligations on them:

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Suitability and Best Interest in Life Insurance and Annuity Transactions (“Regulation 187”)

New York State amended Regulation 187 to establish what is referred to as the “Best Interest Rule. The amendments are effective August 1, 2019 for annuity transactions and February 1, 2020 for life insurance transactions. The amendments extend the standard of care insurance companies, agents, and brokers must now exercise when making recommendations to prospective clients for all life insurance and annuity purchases.

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