REFLECTION OF SUMMER
Laura Sprowls of Setauket recently captured this image of Port Jefferson Harbor from the dock at Danfords Hotel. She writes, “The lighting was strong so I put the sun behind the mini lighthouse to soften the effect and captured a lovely reflection in the calm evening water at the end of a beautiful summer’s day.”
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Many people worry about getting enough protein, when they really should be concerned about getting enough fiber. Most of us — except perhaps professional athletes or long-distance runners — get enough protein in our diets. Protein has not prevented or helped treat diseases in the way that studies illustrate with fiber.
As I mentioned in my previous article, Americans are woefully deficient in fiber, getting between eight and 15 grams per day, when they should be ingesting more than 40 grams daily.
In order to increase our daily intake, several myths need to be dispelled. First, fiber does more than improve bowel movements. Also, fiber doesn’t have to be unpleasant.
The attitude has long been that to get enough fiber, one needs to eat a cardboard box. With certain sugary cereals, you may be better off eating the box, but on the whole, this is not true. Though fiber comes in supplement form, most of your daily intake should be from diet. It is actually relatively painless to get enough fiber; you just have to become aware of which foods are fiber rich.
Fiber has very powerful effects on our overall health. A very large prospective cohort study showed that fiber may increase longevity by decreasing mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases and other infectious diseases (1). Over a nine-year period, those who ate the most fiber, in the highest quintile group, were 22 percent less likely to die than those in lowest group. Patients who consumed the most fiber also saw a significant decrease in mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases and infectious diseases. The authors of the study believe that it may be the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects of whole grains that are responsible for the positive results.
Along the same lines of the respiratory findings, we see benefit with prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with fiber in a relatively large epidemiologic analysis of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (2). The specific source of fiber was important. Fruit had the most significant effect on preventing COPD, with a 28 percent reduction in risk. Cereal fiber also had a substantial effect but not as great.
Does the type of fiber make a difference? One of the complexities is that there are a number of different classifications of fiber, from soluble to viscous to fermentable. Within each of the types, there are subtypes of fiber. Not all fiber sources are equal. Some are more effective in preventing or treating certain diseases. Take, for instance, a February 2004 irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) study (3).
It was a meta-analysis (a review of multiple studies) study using 17 randomized controlled trials with results showing that soluble psyllium improved symptoms in patients significantly more than insoluble bran.
Fiber also has powerful effects on breast cancer treatment. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, soluble fiber had a significant impact on breast cancer risk reduction in estrogen negative women (4). Most beneficial studies for breast cancer have shown results in estrogen receptor positive women. This is one of the few studies that has illustrated significant results in estrogen receptor negative women.
The list of chronic diseases and disorders that fiber prevents and/or treats also includes cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer, diverticulosis and weight gain. This is hardly an exhaustive list. I am trying to impress upon you the importance of increasing fiber in your diet.
Foods that are high in fiber are part of a plant-rich diet. They are whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. Overall, beans, as a group, have the highest amount of fiber. Animal products don’t have fiber. Even more interesting is that fiber is one of the only foods that has no calories, yet helps you feel full. These days, it’s easy to increase your fiber by choosing bean-based pastas. Personally, I prefer those based on lentils. Read the labels, though; you want those that are solely made from lentils without rice added.
If you have a chronic disease, the best fiber sources are most likely disease dependent. However, if you are trying to prevent chronic diseases in general, I would recommend getting fiber from a wide array of sources. Make sure to eat meals that contain substantial amounts of fiber, which has several advantages, such as avoiding processed foods, reducing the risk of chronic disease, satiety and increased energy levels. Certainly, while protein is important, each time you sit down at a meal, rather than asking how much protein is in it, you now know to ask how much fiber is in it.
References:
(1) Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(12):1061-1068. (2) Amer J Epidemiology 2008;167(5):570-578. (3) Aliment Pharmacology and Therapeutics 2004;19(3):245-251. (4) Amer J Clinical Nutrition 2009;90(3):664–671.
Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
His life makes for a fascinating story even if the current spy movie is mediocre. “The Catcher Was a Spy,” tells of Morris “Moe” Berg, baseball player, and his remarkable intelligence and exploits, especially during World War II. Born in Harlem, not far from the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants, Berg began playing baseball at age 7. He was to be called “the brainiest guy in baseball,” and Casey Stengel, a baseball player and manager who was something of an eccentric himself, referred to him as “the strangest man ever to play baseball.”
Berg’s story, captured in Nicholas Dawidoff’s 1994 book of similar title, is also the story of the times in America in which he lived. Born in 1902, he begged to go to school at age 3 1/2. The third and youngest child of a pharmacist and a homemaker, Berg graduated from high school at 16, then Princeton magna cum laude in 1923, as an outstanding scholar-athlete playing baseball all along the way. He also grew up as an outsider, marginalized there because of modest finances and as a Jew at a time of deep bigotry. He majored in modern languages and spoke some half-a-dozen fluently, including eventually Japanese.
Upon graduation, Berg was signed to a contract by the Brooklyn Robins, soon to become the Brooklyn Dodgers and he seemed to be just so-so at bat but a good clutch hitter with a strong and accurate arm in the infield.
After that first season, Berg traveled to Paris, where he enrolled at the Sorbonne and read several newspapers each day. By January 1924, Berg was not thinking of going back to spring training to develop himself as a hitter but rather found the idea of travel irresistible and went on to tour Switzerland and Italy. When he finally did return to the United States, he was optioned off to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association minor league. He was to play for four American League teams throughout his baseball career, primarily as a catcher, ending with the Boston Red Sox as player and then coach in 1941. “Good field, no hit,” was how Dodgers scout Mike González, characterized him. Berg distinguished himself for his putouts stealing percentage, double plays by a catcher and assists by a catcher.
However, throughout his baseball life, which he so clearly loved, he was a true Renaissance man. In between seasons, and sometimes missing the first couple of months of the new season, he studied law at Columbia University, passing the bar in 1929 and finally earning his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1930. Interestingly, he was sent with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and a handful of other all-stars to play exhibition games with the Japanese in 1934 — Berg’s second trip there. Although certainly not of their star caliber, he spoke the language and was probably included on the squad for that reason.
While in Tokyo, he donned a kimono and pretended to bring flowers to the American ambassador’s daughter, who was a patient in the Tokyo hospital. He went up to the roof instead, and from the top of one of the tallest buildings he used his 16-mm Bell & Howell camera that he had concealed in the folds of his garb to film the city and harbor. He never did visit the daughter but he did provide American intelligence with rare and invaluable footage later on. He supposedly did this in anticipation of the war that he was sure, from his various readings and Far East travel, was coming. He went on to join the Office of Strategic Services, later the CIA; was parachuted into occupied Yugoslavia evaluating which resistance groups should get U.S. support — he chose Tito’s group; and became involved in the frenzied effort to determine if the German scientist Werner Heisenberg was close to developing the atomic bomb with orders to assassinate him if so — Berg decided not. Otherwise, he was of immense value to the U.S. as he moved throughout Europe in his dangerous and exciting life.
The former ballplayer turned down the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor to the war effort, during his lifetime but the medal was awarded posthumously. In American history he is a mysterious footnote.
The president of the United States is taking full credit for the relief those crazy leftist environmental groups are feeling in response to the resignation of the latest misunderstood and much maligned member of his cabinet, Scott Pruitt.
You see, President Donald Trump knew that Pruitt would do his bidding, gutting unnecessary government regulations designed to protect the water, air and food that Americans and, indeed, others on the planet need on a daily basis.
He knew Pruitt would do everything he asked, and more. It’s like the old Stalin philosophy. You remember that ruthless Soviet Union dictator, right? He never wanted any of his tank commanders to be too powerful because he didn’t want their leader taking over.
So, he chose Pruitt knowing that he’d do what Trump wanted and then would become so enmeshed in the world he tried to help — lobbyists, coal interests, insecticide manufacturers — that he would eventually cause harm to himself and his political aspirations.
Trump is, rightfully, taking full credit for the resignation of a man he supported when it was expedient to do so and that he needed to cut loose when the combination of foibles and follies entered the public realm.
Sure, some nasty journalists may have quoted unnamed sources who shared questionable details about Pruitt’s spending habits, his requests for football tickets, his security detail and his desire to get his wife a job. Ultimately, it was Trump who made the call, putting the thorn in the side of the environmental groups and then pulling it out ever so quickly and gracefully.
Well, maybe it wasn’t all that quick. Pruitt lasted far longer in Washington than even members of the “Trump Party” — that’s the new name of the group formerly known as the Republican Party — might have wanted. But, hey, the more people who found Pruitt’s actions and decisions questionable, the greater the relief when he was finally removed from office.
OK, so technically the guy resigned, which means he walked out of the seat of power and into an enormous gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle. But, seriously, does anyone believe Pruitt thought he blew it on his own? No, no, people, wake up. News that the environmental groups all thought was good because they imagined that the EPA might return to its mandate of protecting the environment and the people, animals and trees living here came courtesy of His Truly: President Trump.
Yes, of course, you can thank him for taking nuclear weapons out of the hands of the North Koreans, and you can express your appreciation for the incredibly kind way he pulled back from a zero-tolerance policy he established because of laws the Democrats won’t fix, but don’t forget to give credit where credit is due.
You see, if the president had never tapped Pruitt, who built his career attacking the henhouse that was the EPA from his home in Oklahoma, the greenie groups would never be able to celebrate his removal. No, it’s a total credit to Trump that the reality TV show that was the Pruitt era at the EPA has been canceled.
So, take your time, think of the right words and make sure to thank the man in charge of the world for choosing the right man at the right time and then letting that man walk off into a sunset enhanced by all the pollution-generated particulates he helped put there.
MEET CARLOS!
This handsome boy is Carlos! A one-year-old Chihuahua mix who looks a bit like a baby deer with his long legs, Carlos is very sweet, affectionate and playful and is patiently waiting at Kent Animal Shelter for that perfect someone with a nice warm lap for him to curl up on. Could that be with you? Carlos comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. For more information on Carlos and other adoptable pets at Kent, visit www.kentanimalshelter.com or call 631-727-5731.
Update: Carlos has been adopted!
By Bob Lipinski
As an author and professional taster, I generally taste and evaluate more than 100 alcoholic beverages (wine, spirits, beer and sake) per week. Some are good, some are very good to excellent, while others are not very good. During the last month I had an opportunity to taste some very interesting wines and spirits that I’d like to share with you.
Moletto Grappa di Prosecco, Italy (80 proof): Crystal clear with a delicate, refined and perfumed bouquet of pears, fennel and chamomile flowers. Surprisingly smooth with hints of ginger, orange and apples. Serve slightly chilled.
Lazzaroni Amaro Liqueur, Italy: Dark brown colored with an intense bouquet of ginger, spices, cloves, rhubarb and cola. Semisweet with flavors of peppermint, black pepper, herbs and a touch of bitterness. Great over ice or as a tall drink with some sparkling mineral water.
Laird’s Straight Applejack 1780, Scobeyville, New Jersey (86 proof): Made from an astonishing 17 pounds of apples including Winesap, Fuji, Red and Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Granny Smith and Jonathan. Amber colored with overtones of baked apples and cider. Very complex and full tasting with flavors of apples, burnt sugar, vanilla and orange peel. Warming, smooth finish and very long aftertaste. I love this straight with some ice cubes with perhaps a splash of water. Superb!
Richland Single Estate Rum, Georgia, USA: Made from pure sugarcane grown in Georgia. Amber colored with a distinctive bouquet and flavor of cinnamon, grass, vanilla, nutmeg, maple syrup and spices. Smooth with virtually no burn. Excellent rum.
Absolut Ruby Red Vodka (Sweden): I am a Scotch n’ soda drinker and generally don’t drink “clear spirits” with seltzer. Boy was I surprised when I added ice and seltzer, then gave it a stir with my swizzle stick and brought it to my nose. Powerful aromas of grapefruit abounded. I drank deeply and was rewarded with flavors of grapefruit that continued well into the second sip. Absolutely (pardon the pun) delicious!
Hecht & Bannier Côtes de Provence Rosé, 2017, France (blend of grenache, cinsaut and vermentino): Dry and very clean with flavors of strawberries, red cherries and plums and a lingering berry aftertaste. Perfect for summertime!
Steele Zinfandel Pacini Vineyard, 2015, Lake County, California (aged 12 months in oak): Bouquet and flavor of spicy cherries, cranberry cola and menthol with undertones of vanilla, nutmeg and dried plums. Big mouthful of a well-made wine.
Rei Manfredi Bianco, 2017, Basilicata, Italy (blend of Müller-Thurgau and Gewürztraminer): Really perfumed with citrus overtones and flavors of litchi, jasmine and tropical fruit.
Rapitalà Piano Maltese, 2017, Sicily, Italy (blend of catarratto, grillo and chardonnay): Dry, clean and crispy with an aroma and flavor of citrus, pears, delicious apples and roasted almonds. Slightly tart with a wonderful aftertaste.
Bob Lipinski is the author of 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need to Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He conducts training seminars on wine, spirits and food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com OR [email protected].
By Daniel Dunaief
They aren’t quite wonder twins, but some day the dedicated work of husband and wife scientists Christopher Vakoc and Camila dos Santos may help people batting against a range of cancers, from leukemia to breast cancer.
An assistant professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, dos Santos recently won the prestigious and highly coveted Pershing Square Sohn prize. Dos Santos, who studies breast cancer, will receive $200,000 in funds per year for the next three years. She won the same prize her husband, an associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, collected two years earlier for his work using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to study the molecular pathways involved in leukemia.
Dos Santos and Vakoc are the first family of prize winners in the Pershing Square Foundation’s five years of supporting research in the New York area.“The board was very much taken by how original her approach is and how thoughtful she is about it,” said Olivia Tournay Flatto, president of the foundation. “There was a lot of early stage data that would say that the observations she’s making are interesting to pursue, but that the National Institutes of Health would not fund. We felt this was something we wanted to be a part of.”
Dos Santos is studying so-called epigenetic changes that protect women from breast cancer if they become pregnant before they are 25. Women who have pregnancies before that cut-off age have a 30 to 40 percent decrease in breast cancer, even decades after their pregnancy.
Dos Santos has been digging into this process, looking at why some women who are pregnant before this age still develop breast cancer later in life.
The Cold Spring Harbor scientist is exploring how infections block the protective effects of pregnancy. She hasn’t defined the panel of infections that could influence cancer risk before or after pregnancy. The hypothesis in her work is that “the whole process that is fighting inflammation could change the breast cells,” which could “take away the advantage that pregnancy brings.”
If she proves her theory — that changes to inflammation could take away benefits of an early pregnancy — she could define changes to proteins and genes as biomarkers to predict the risk of breast cancer, even in the event of an early pregnancy. One of the challenges in the three-step application process for this prize was to explain to a group of experts how what she’s doing was different from what others are pursuing. Her approach is to look at cells before and during the process of turning into cancer cells. That strategy led to the current hypothesis, which was the basis for her application for this prize.
To study breast cancer, dos Santos recently developed a mouse model in her lab, to see how pregnancy changes pre-malignant lesions. When the mice they are studying have a gene that would turn into cancer, some of them don’t develop cancer if they’ve already been pregnant. Those mice that haven’t been pregnant develop cancer. She uses this mouse model to ask questions about how pregnancy changes a cell such that oncogenes cannot operate to change a cell into a cancer.
“We are not only investigating how prevention works, but we are also learning what signals break that prevention,” dos Santos said.
Dos Santos has used the mouse model experiments to test an unusual element to human breast cancer resistance. Women who reach their second trimester before 25, but don’t give birth to a child, have the same resistance, decades later, to breast cancer. Mice whose pregnancies last through the equivalent of the second trimester also experience similar epigenetic benefits.
She has tested mice who have a pseudo-pregnancy —who have higher pregnancy hormone levels without being pregnant — to see if a similar pregnancy environment would convey the same resistance. “Even in those cases, with no fetus, no embryo, no birth and no nursing, we see that the epigenetics changes,” dos Santos said. The scientist plans to use the funds from this award to perform high-tech experiments, such as single-cell, multiple mouse models and human tissue analysis that she wouldn’t have been able to tackle without the funding.
Dos Santos is grateful for the funding, which she said she wouldn’t have been able to secure through other means based on “the stage we are right now,” she said. The work is “risky” and “provocative,” but it’s also “outside of the box ideas and experiments and approaches.”
When she puts all the variants together, the risky outcome could be beneficial, leading to a better understanding of how to copy or, perhaps, understand nature to try to cure or prevent cancer.
Dos Santos said she learned about the award when she was on a train on the way to Jamaica, where she was catching a flight to Washington, D.C. She said she turned into a “texting machine,” sharing the good news with everyone, including her husband Vakoc, who called her as soon as he saw the news. “He was super happy,” she recalled.
She said Vakoc was particularly helpful in discussing the work and in watching their sons Lucas and Marcus who are 8 and 5, respectively. She also received some unexpected help from him before an extensive seven- to eight-minute finalist screening process.
She asked him about the interview, and he remembered that there were five people in the audience and that he didn’t get that many questions. When she appeared for her interview, she saw about 25 people in the audience and received numerous questions. In a way, she said, his memory of his experience may have helped her, because she didn’t have time to worry about the size of the audience or the number of questions.
Dos Santos said their sons are proud of their parents for winning awards for their work on cancer.
When her sons are upset with dos Santos, they sometimes warn, reflecting their parents’ threat to take away TV, that they’re going to “take your epigenetics away.”
Dos Santos said the couple maintains a healthy work-life balance. She is grateful for her husband’s support, as well as for the environment and expertise at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
“Here at the lab, we not only have the technology to move this forward, but we also have a pretty outstanding body of scientists that are very collaborative,” she said.
‘ROSE BY BEACH’
Jay Gao of Stony Brook snapped this interesting photo of a lone beach rose at West Meadow Beach on June 3 with a Nikon D750 camera. A speedboat and the bluffs of Old Field are in the background.
Send your Photo of the Week to [email protected].
By Barbara Beltrami
There are some foods that need all the help they can get for flavor, and there are other foods that are exquisite as they are and need very little or no help. With their briny natural flavor, clams are a perfect example of the latter. In fact, their only permissible enhancements should be fresh lemon or melted butter. Chilled, freshly opened and slurped from the half shell, they are peerless for succulence. Steamed and served with their own broth, they are voluptuously pleasing to the palate. And roasted or grilled, they are simply scrumptious. And in a sauce over a delicate pasta? Divine. Here are three basic recipes that feature clams with minimal secondary ingredients. It would be criminal to camouflage or detract from that sweetly brackish flavor.
Steamed Clams
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
6 pounds soft shell clams
1½ sticks unsalted butter
Juice of one lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2½ cups cold water
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, cut into thirds
1 bay leaf
DIRECTIONS:
Soak the clams in a large pot of cold water, move them around a bit, let them settle, then change water and repeat procedure twice until clams are very clean and there is no sand in the bottom of the pot. In a small pan, melt butter over low heat, then add lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir well. Set aside to keep warm.
In a large pot combine the two and a half cups water, onion, celery, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes; add clams and cover pot. Check in about 5 minutes for clams to be open. Discard any clams that don’t open after a few more minutes.
Transfer opened clams to a large serving bowl; set aside to keep warm. Remove and discard onion, celery and bay leaf; pour the broth through a cheesecloth-lined strainer and stop before you get to the sediment at the bottom of the pot. Pour the hot broth into small bowls or cups, likewise with the melted butter and place one of each at each diner’s place. Put bowl of clams, accompanied by another bowl or two for discarded shells, in the middle of the table. Serve with ice cold beer, lots of crusty bread and plenty of napkins.
Roasted Clams
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
24 medium hard-shell clams
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
½ stick butter, melted
Lemon wedges
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 F. Scrub clams under cold running water; arrange in shallow roasting or baking pan. Bake 5 minutes or until shells open; remove from oven. When cool enough to handle, remove top shell; serve on lower shell after sparingly seasoning with salt and pepper and drizzling or brushing with melted butter. Serve with freshly picked corn on the cob, sliced garden tomatoes with fresh basil and garlic bread.
Clam Sauce
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
4 pounds littleneck or Manila clams, well scrubbed and rinsed
½ cup water or dry white wine
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ stick butter
1 handful parsley, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, steam the clams in water or wine until they open. Remove clams from pot; discard any that do not open; reserve cooking liquid. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the clams from their shells, cut up any large ones and set aside to keep warm. In a small skillet over medium-low heat, cook garlic in butter 3 to 4 minutes until it releases its aroma. Carefully add the cooking liquid; be sure to leave residual sand in pot. Add parsley and pepper, then clams; cover and gently reheat, but do not overcook, when ready to serve. Serve with capelllini or linguine and a crisp green salad.
By Nancy Burner, ESQ.
One of the most misunderstood planning strategies is that retirement funds, such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRAs, should not name a trust as designated beneficiary. My clients are often advised by their financial adviser to name individuals and not trusts, even minor or disabled beneficiaries. That could be the most expensive mistake made by a retirement account holder and one I often see. The IRA retirement trust is the answer.
First, clients are concerned about protecting their beneficiaries from claims of creditors: that is, divorcing spouses, judgment creditors and Medicaid if the beneficiary needs long-term care.
While IRA accounts are protected from creditors of the original account holder and surviving spouse, the same is not true for inherited IRAs. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that when someone other than the spouse inherits an IRA, the account is subject to beneficiary’s creditors. Thus, if parents want to protect their child, they can name a trust as the beneficiary of the account, instead of naming the child directly. Correctly written, the trust can allow the trustee to use the beneficiary’s life expectancy, commonly referred to as a “stretch IRA.”
Under federal tax law, designating an individual as the beneficiary of a retirement account results in tax efficiencies by allowing the beneficiary to take the benefits over their life expectancy based upon the beneficiary’s age at the time of the owner’s death and the use of an IRS actuarial table.
Each year the beneficiary of the IRA must take a minimum distribution from the inherited IRA and must pay income tax on the distribution. The balance of the IRA continues to grow tax deferred, only distributions are taxable. Therefore, a young beneficiary will be able to defer the tax longer (commonly known as “stretch”) and enjoy exponential growth. In the case of a Roth IRA, the account holder has already paid the tax, so the beneficiary can continue to have tax-free growth, not tax deferred, over his or her life expectancy.
In order to use the trust beneficiary’s life expectancy, the trust must meet the following criteria:
The trust must be valid under state law; the trust must be irrevocable by the time of the account holder’s death; the trust beneficiaries must be identifiable within the trust document; the retirement beneficiary custodian, issuer, administrator or trustee must be provided with a copy of the trust document by Oct. 31 of the year after the year of the retirement owner’s death and there must be an agreement to that information in the event it is ever changed; and all the “counted” beneficiaries of the trust are “individuals.”
Typically, trusts that satisfy the above criteria will qualify for the stretch. The trusts are drafted as either a conduit trust or an accumulations trust.
The simplest trust is a conduit trust, which allows the trustee to decide on the amount and timing of any and all distributions from the trust. However, any distributions taken must be paid immediately to the beneficiary — who must be an individual. The trust can be drafted to give the trustee the power to take only minimum distributions or distributions more than the minimum.
The second type of trust is a qualified accumulation trust. This trust permits the trustee to accumulate annual minimum required distributions in the trust after the distributions are received from the inherited retirement benefit and is used for beneficiaries that have existing creditor problems to protect the annual distributions from a creditor’s reach.
If the payment were to be paid to the beneficiary outright, the creditor would be able to take the distribution. This type of trust is also used for a supplemental needs trust for a disabled individual. Since most supplemental needs trusts are intended to protect government benefits, it is imperative that the distributions be permitted to accumulate in the trust.
Under New York law, for example, the beneficiary (other than supplemental needs beneficiary) can be her own trustee with the power to make distributions to herself for an ascertainable standard of health, education, maintenance and support without subjecting the trust to claims of her creditors. In cases where the beneficiary is unable to act as trustee, because of lack of maturity, irresponsibility or disability, someone else can be named as trustee. Importantly, the trustee will be the “gatekeeper” and take minimum distributions and exercise discretion to take even more from the IRA if needed and permitted by the trust terms.
By naming a trustee to decide the amount of distributions to be taken, the account holder can rest assured that the IRA savings won’t be squandered. Beneficiaries that are not financially savvy can create tax problems by taking distributions without considering the income tax consequences. Not only will the distributions be taxable, the distribution may put the beneficiary in a higher tax bracket for all their income.
Retirement funds are often the largest assets in a decedent’s estate and usually given the least amount of consideration. Consideration should be given to naming a retirement trust as the designated beneficiary.
Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.
Prev
