If your Roth IRA account is divided equally among your beneficiaries, will it hold true to your wishes or must you divide your Roth IRA into separate Roths for each beneficiary?

As long as the designation of your beneficiary form is filled out correctly (lists primary beneficiaries by name and the percentages to each) the Roth IRA can then be separated into shares in an inherited IRA for each beneficiary. Confirm this with whomever manages your Roth IRA account to make sure it is set up correctly.

You can also, however, establish separate accounts during your lifetime and name each beneficiary as the beneficiary of their share. You might want to do this setup if you plan to invest the money differently in each beneficiary’s shares.

A message from Dave today as he writes from the Philippines (on his trip with John Drake visiting the Lingap Children’s Foundation):

95 degrees, sunny and really humid with no water has left me tired and in desperate need of a shower…that said I have had some profound experiences as this trip always provides. Today it is simply treasuring the simple things. I don’t know when the last time I celebrated taking a shower…water is so taken for granted and yet most of the world lives without it. Here it is normal to have rolling water outages if there is a drought. They shrug their shoulders and continue with life. Life is hard but it is a truth of life; they don’t get irritated or pissed off when it occurs; they accept it and live life happily in spite of it.

A breath of wind…today I cherished a breath of wind. It is so hot and humid that you begin sweating and don’t quit until half way through the night. But today for about 25 seconds a strong and steady wind blew and then it was gone. It felt so good. I was not sad to see it leave; I knew that it would not stay but I celebrated its presence.

Today, do two things: celebrate the little things and give thanks for them.  Secondly, push a little harder, dig a little deeper to pursue the opportunity many never get.  Many people would do unfathomable things just for a chance. Today you have that chance; what are you going to do with it?