Uncle Sam wants you and he really wants your IRA -also known as Internal Revenue Account if you have not taken steps to protect it upon your death. You have saved your whole life for your retirement account. Why? For retirement. Okay, so you are now retired. You either need your IRA for income or you don't. If you are one of the growing number of retirees that will never need to live off income from the IRA or other qualified accounts you may have, consider these potential strategies.

IRA's enjoy tax deferred status. This means no taxes are due until withdrawel. You may have gotten a tax deduction to encourage you to place funds in it to begin with. IRA's can be rolled over, disclaimed, or cashed in depending on the rules in force at the time of an individuals death. If your non-spouse heirs cash in that IRA, they will pay taxes at their own tax rate on the amount inherited. So on an IRA worth $100,000, your heirs may lose as much as $35,000 to Uncle Sam. If your estate is large enough, they may lose additional amounts as high as 45% to estate taxes. WOW-that could be 70%-80% of the account! Yes it could! So how do you pass on an IRA? Here are a few options.