tell a beneficiary?

[pb4uski]

Brokerages should receive red flags such as returned mail, untaken RMDs, etc. Whether they then act upon such hints I do not know.

I suspect that for returned mail they would presume that you moved and failed to update your address rather than you died. I'm not sure what they would read into untaken RMDs - perhaps neglect or oversight.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Brokerages should receive red flags such as returned mail, untaken RMDs, etc. Whether they then act upon such hints I do not know.

I had this happen last yr w/Fidelity. On an inherited IRA, I setup autowithdrawals on the RMD every Dec. 1. I got the notification the RMD was taken and left it alone. In Jan, I went looking for the account transfer deposit and it wasn't there. After investigation, the deposit account wasn't updated when it was closed, so they redeposited the money back into the originating account instead of notifying me! Since the RMD didn't happen in the correct year, I had to file an explanation w/IRS to avoid the penalty. Fidelity apologized for the error and admitted this never should have happened. If I didn't catch this error, Fidelity wouldn't have caught it.

 

[steelyman]

Yes, all of my accounts have named beneficiaries that were added on line. I just took a look at my Vanguard account. All it asks for is name and DOB. No address, phone or SS#. I'm not sure how they would find my beneficiaries if they needed to without this information.

Well, it may be time to pick up the phone and ask them. Peace of mind is worth the hassle. As a bonus, you could tell us what they say, too!