How to Find a Financial Advisor for an Inherited IRA

Most financial advisors can handle a 401(k) rollover or a straightforward retirement plan. Fewer have genuine depth in inherited IRA planning — the SECURE Act 10-year rule, T.D. 10001's annual RMD framework, Roth conversion coordination across a multi-year window, and the interaction with Medicare IRMAA and Social Security benefit taxation. For a $300,000–$2M inherited IRA, the difference between a well-modeled plan and a default equal-withdrawal approach can exceed $50,000 in taxes over the depletion window. Here's what to look for, what to ask, and what it costs.

What makes inherited IRA planning specialized: The 2020 SECURE Act eliminated the stretch IRA for most non-spouse beneficiaries. IRS T.D. 10001 (July 2024) added a second layer: whether annual distributions are required in years 1–9 depends on whether the original owner passed their Required Beginning Date.³ A generalist who doesn't know this distinction is working from an outdated map.

Why inherited IRA planning is specialized work

The core planning challenge is tax bracket management across a 10-year window. For a beneficiary who is 50 years old and still working, the first five years may fall in the 32–35% federal bracket. Retirement at 55 may drop them to 12–22%. An advisor who models this trajectory and front-loads distributions into the lower-income years can save six figures in taxes over the window — an advisor who defaults to equal annual withdrawals does not.

Beyond bracket management, a complete inherited IRA plan addresses:

Group A vs. Group B classification. Per T.D. 10001, beneficiaries who inherit from an owner who had passed their Required Beginning Date (Group B) owe annual RMDs in years 1–9 in addition to full depletion by year 10. Beneficiaries who inherit from a pre-RBD owner (Group A) have no annual obligation — full flexibility to choose timing. Whether you're Group A or Group B is determined by one fact about the original owner, and it changes the entire planning structure. See the RBD determination guide.
IRMAA Medicare surcharge exposure. Large inherited IRA distributions count as MAGI. IRMAA surcharges apply two years after the distribution year — a large 2026 distribution hits your 2028 Medicare premiums. Modeling the IRMAA cliff ($109,000 single / $218,000 MFJ in 2026) requires a two-year look-ahead most generalists skip. See the inherited IRA and IRMAA guide.
Social Security provisional income multiplication. In the 85% taxability zone, every $1 of inherited IRA withdrawal effectively raises taxable income by $1.85 — the 22% bracket becomes a ~40% effective rate. Inherited IRA distributions are the most common reason retirees end up in this zone without expecting it. See the Social Security interaction guide.
Roth conversion coordination. Non-spouse beneficiaries cannot convert the inherited IRA itself to Roth — IRC § 408(d)(3)(C) prohibits the rollover. But they can coordinate Roth conversions from their own IRA during the 10-year window, filling bracket space not consumed by inherited IRA withdrawals. Done correctly, this permanently shifts assets from taxable to tax-free. See the Roth conversion coordinator.
After-tax basis recovery. If the decedent made non-deductible contributions to the inherited IRA, part of each distribution is already taxed and comes out tax-free. The Form 8606 calculation for inherited accounts is separate from your own IRA basis and is routinely missed by tax preparers. See the after-tax basis guide.

Credentials that signal relevant expertise

No single credential proves inherited IRA expertise, but these indicate relevant training:

Credential	Issuing body	Why it matters for inherited IRA planning
CFP (Certified Financial Planner)	CFP Board	Requires 6,000+ hours of qualifying financial planning experience and a comprehensive exam that covers retirement distribution planning. Verify status and any disciplinary history at cfp.net.²
CPA/PFS (Personal Financial Specialist)	AICPA	CPA credential plus 3,000+ hours of personal financial planning experience. The year-by-year bracket modeling at the core of inherited IRA planning is exactly what CPAs are trained for. The PFS designation confirms they do financial planning, not just tax prep.
EA (Enrolled Agent)	IRS	Licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Strong background in IRS regulations and compliance. EAs who specialize in IRA distributions bring direct IRS-rule fluency, especially for missed-RMD situations, Form 5329 filings, and penalty waiver requests.
AEP (Accredited Estate Planner)	NAEPC	Relevant when the inherited IRA is part of a larger estate settlement — multiple asset types, trust structures, or IRC § 691(c) IRD deduction planning. See the IRD deduction guide.

For large inherited IRAs ($500K+), the ideal combination is CFP + CPA — financial planning depth paired with tax modeling capability. If you can have only one, lean toward the CPA/PFS for balances where the annual tax impact is the primary planning variable.

The fee-only requirement

Inherited IRA planning involves recommending how much to withdraw, when, and in what structure. An advisor compensated by product commissions has a financial incentive to steer you toward solutions that pay them — annuities, managed rollovers, or products that consolidate assets under their management. A fee-only advisor is paid only by you, which removes that structural conflict.

NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) defines fee-only and maintains a searchable directory at napfa.org.¹ All NAPFA members must adhere to a fiduciary standard and fee-only compensation. The Garrett Planning Network is another directory of fee-only advisors who often work on an hourly basis.

"Fee-based" is not the same as "fee-only." Fee-based advisors charge client fees and may earn commissions on products. Ask directly: "Do you or your firm receive any compensation from product sales, referrals, or custodians other than fees I pay you?" A fee-only advisor answers no without hesitation.

You can also review an advisor's Form ADV Part 2 (available free at adviserinfo.sec.gov) to see every disclosed compensation source, conflict of interest, and any regulatory history before the first conversation.

10 questions to ask before hiring

These questions diagnose whether the advisor has worked through the specific decisions you'll face. A generalist may know the general SECURE Act concepts; a specialist will give detailed, confident answers to each.

Are you familiar with T.D. 10001 and how it determines whether annual RMDs are required during the 10-year window — based on whether the original owner had passed their Required Beginning Date?
How do you model the bracket-trajectory trade-off between front-loading distributions now versus back-loading into lower-income retirement years?
How does your analysis account for the IRMAA two-year lookback when I'm within four years of Medicare eligibility?
Can you model the Social Security provisional income impact — specifically, the effective marginal rate in the 85% taxability zone?
If I also have a traditional IRA, how do you coordinate Roth conversion decisions alongside mandatory inherited IRA distributions?
For Group B beneficiaries who owe annual RMDs in years 1–9, how do you calculate the Single Life Expectancy factor using the correct post-T.D. 10001 table?
Have you handled year-of-death RMD obligations — the remaining distribution amount the beneficiary inherits from the decedent's final year?
How do you track the inherited IRA's after-tax basis on Form 8606 separately from my own IRA's basis calculation?
Do you have experience with state-specific complications — particularly inheritance tax states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, or states with unusual retirement income exclusions?
If the 10-year window is already underway and prior-year annual RMDs were missed, how do you calculate the shortfall and coordinate the Form 5329 reasonable-cause waiver?

Questions 1, 3, 6, and 8 are the most diagnostic. T.D. 10001 familiarity, IRMAA modeling, Group A/B annual RMD calculation, and inherited-IRA-specific Form 8606 tracking are the four pillars that define current inherited IRA planning practice. An advisor who is vague or generic on those four has not done this work before at depth.

What fee-only inherited IRA planning costs

Fee model	Typical range	Best for
Hourly	$200–$500/hr	Scoped analysis: confirming Group A/B classification, reviewing annual RMD obligations, and building a preliminary distribution schedule. Typically 3–8 hours for a thorough inherited IRA review.
Project / flat fee	$3,000–$8,000	Comprehensive plan: full 10-year model, Roth conversion coordination, Social Security and IRMAA projections, state tax layer, written deliverable. Best value for $300K+ inherited IRAs.
AUM (assets under management)	0.5%–1.0%/year	Ongoing management plus annual plan updates. At 1% on a $1M inherited IRA, that's $10,000/year — compare carefully to a flat-fee model plus periodic reviews before committing.
Subscription / retainer	$3,000–$6,000/year	Annual refresh plus ongoing access. Good fit when the inherited IRA coordinates year-to-year with your own RMDs, Social Security claiming, and changing income.

Is the cost worth it? For a $600,000 inherited IRA, shifting five years of distributions from a 32% bracket (peak working years) to a 22% bracket (early retirement) saves approximately $60,000 in federal taxes. A project fee of $4,000–$6,000 is typically recovered in the first year's tax savings alone on balances of this size. The larger the balance and the higher the bracket differential, the stronger the return on professional planning.

Red flags that identify a generalist

Recommends an annuity inside the inherited IRA without modeling surrender charges against SECURE Act 10-year compliance constraints. Surrender charges can trap you in an illiquid product precisely when distribution flexibility matters most. See the inherited IRA annuity guide.
Defaults to equal annual withdrawals without running a bracket-trajectory model. Equal distributions are mathematically optimal only if your income stays flat across the entire 10-year window — an unusual situation.
Can't explain Group A vs. Group B. If the advisor doesn't know the T.D. 10001 annual RMD split, they are applying pre-2024 rules to your situation — and potentially exposing you to the 25% excise tax on missed annual RMDs.
Suggests a 60-day rollover from the inherited IRA to your own IRA or a Roth IRA. IRC § 408(d)(3)(C) categorically prohibits this for non-spouse beneficiaries. Attempting it creates a fully taxable distribution — plus a potential 60-day deadline violation. See the rollover rules guide.
Fee-based rather than fee-only. Check the advisor's Form ADV Part 2 for all compensation sources. Commission-based income creates a structural conflict in distribution planning that disclosure alone does not eliminate.

Get matched with an inherited IRA specialist

We pre-screen fee-only advisors for inherited IRA depth — including T.D. 10001 familiarity, bracket-trajectory modeling, and Roth conversion coordination. Free match, no commission.

Fee-only · No commissions · Free match · No obligation

Where to find inherited IRA specialists independently

Several directories focus on fee-only and fiduciary advisors:

NAPFA (napfa.org) — Directory of fee-only, fiduciary advisors. All NAPFA members take a fiduciary oath and disclose all compensation sources. Search by ZIP code and specialty area.¹
Garrett Planning Network (garrettplanningnetwork.com) — Hourly and project-based fee-only advisors. Useful for scoped analysis rather than ongoing AUM management.
CFP Board (cfp.net) — Verify any CFP credential and review disciplinary history before hiring.²
SEC Adviser Info (adviserinfo.sec.gov) — Review any registered advisor's Form ADV Part 2: compensation structure, conflicts of interest, and regulatory actions.

When contacting any advisor from a directory, use the 10 diagnostic questions above before scheduling a deeper engagement. A specialist will answer them fluently with specific reference to current law. A generalist will answer in general terms, cite the SECURE Act without knowing T.D. 10001 specifics, and be vague on Group A vs. Group B.

Sources

NAPFA — Find a Fee-Only Financial Advisor — NAPFA defines fee-only as advisors who receive no compensation from product sales; all members are required to act as fiduciaries and disclose all compensation sources.
CFP Board — Verify a CFP Professional — Confirms CFP designation status, qualifying experience (6,000+ hours), and any disciplinary or enforcement history for any CFP certificant.
IRS T.D. 10001 (2024-33 IRB) — Required Minimum Distributions Final Regulations — July 2024 final regulations confirming that beneficiaries who inherit from an owner past their Required Beginning Date (Group B) owe annual RMDs in years 1–9. The foundational authority for current inherited IRA planning; supersedes prior proposed regulations and IRS Notices 2022-53 and 2023-54.
IRS Publication 590-B — Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) — Primary IRS guidance on inherited IRA distribution rules, Single Life Expectancy Table for RMD calculation, and Form 8606 basis tracking for inherited accounts.
NAEPC — Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) Designation — Requirements and scope of the AEP credential for estate planning specialists, relevant when an inherited IRA is part of a larger estate settlement or involves complex trust structures.

Credential requirements verified against CFP Board, NAPFA, and AICPA as of June 2026. Advisor fee ranges per industry surveys; individual fees vary. IRS T.D. 10001 effective date July 2024.