Have you recently got engaged, had a baby, gotten married? Congratulations! But have you told us? Even if you haven’t experienced a life changing event, do you know who your beneficiaries are? If you are even the slightest bit unsure, check with us today!

Remember, health & welfare trust and retirement plan beneficiaries have different forms, do not carry over and have different rules. You should check both plans for several reasons. For instance, did you know who you designate as your beneficiary for your retirement plan takes precedence over your will? In fact, the designated beneficiaries in your will do not automatically carry over to your 401(k) or IRA. Accounts without beneficiaries listed are subject to probate, which can be expensive and time-consuming and may also put the assets into the hands of someone that you might not have selected.

In both the trust and your retirement plan you have the capability to designate two types of beneficiaries: Primary and Contingent.

• Primary beneficiary(ies): Should you pass away, the person or persons listed as primary beneficiary would inherit your account.
• Contingent beneficiary(ies): If the primary beneficiary(ies) is also deceased, the contingent beneficiary(ies) would inherit the account. Also known as secondary beneficiaries.

If you are married, federal law automatically defaults your spouse as the 100% primary beneficiary of your retirement plan, when you do not have beneficiaries on file. Even if you plan to designate your spouse as the 100% primary beneficiary, completing your beneficiary designations anyway can help avoid any potential issues.

If you have outside accounts, life insurance, etc., you should consider reviewing and updating those beneficiaries as well.

Along the same lines, have you given GMR permission to talk to someone on your behalf regarding your Trust account? Would you like to? With an easy form found online, you can fill out the Third-Party Authorization form allow access or rescind permissions. For your protection, we will only speak to individuals you have given us permission to speak with, it’s not adequate for the person to simply be able to recite the last 4 digits of your SSN.

You work hard for your money and it is our goal to ensure you have the tools to make sure your wishes are honored.

Located in Rochester, NY, for over 25 years GMR has specialized in the development, placement, administration, and support of successful prevailing wage benefit plans meeting the compliance needs of the merit shop construction community. This year our clients will contribute tens of millions of prevailing wage fringe supplements to the Employee Benefit Trust and retirement plans, saving payroll burden on each of those dollars and making bids more competitive. Our current clients do prevailing wage work regulated by the NYSDOL, the USDOL, the MTA, and approximately 10 other states. Let us help you.