Acura tool making buying ‘painless' moves to Phase 2
The brand launched the tool in lockstep with its ZDX midsize electric crossover.
GM uses dealer feedback to implement online sales platform
Nearly 1,000 dealers use General Motors’ Digital Retail Platform, which is designed to create a consistent shopping experience and reduce some of the cost required to sell vehicles.
N.Y. pension buying Vista stake tied to late billionaire Brockman
New York State Common Retirement Fund agreed to pay as much as $350 million for Vista Equity Partners fund stakes tied to late billionaire Robert Brockman, an original investor in the private equity firm, according to people familiar with the matter.
The pension fund for New York state workers is buying part of the $1.46 billion portfolio held by Point Investments, while Ardian SAS is considering buying a stake that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private transaction. The pension has previously committed $5 billion to Vista funds, and it would pay a 35 percent discount to the value of the Point stake, the people said.
Prosecutors alleged Brockman controlled Point, a Bermuda-based entity, and used it to engage in the largest tax-evasion scheme by an individual in US history. Brockman, who died in 2022 before going to trial, denied wrongdoing and said he didn’t control Point. Months before his death, Point filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, and it’s now liquidating assets, court filings show.
The Savings Game: Should you name a trust as an IRA beneficiary?
Many readers ask me if there are any advantages in naming a trust as an IRA beneficiary. Although the IRS made slight improvements in the SECURE Act regulations in July, using a trust as an IRA beneficiary is still not a good idea. After the final regulations were issued, Ed Slott pointed out the reasons why.
Ten-year rule: The SECURE Act specifies that only eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs) qualify for the “stretch” option, which allows beneficiaries to withdraw IRA assets for a period longer than 10 years. Surviving spouses qualify as EDBs, but most beneficiaries do not. Minor children of a deceased IRA owner count as EDBs, but grandchildren do not. Other EDBs include disabled and chronically ill beneficiaries, as well as other non-spouse beneficiaries who are not more than 10 years younger than the deceased IRA owner.
Disadvantages of the trust as beneficiary: The two disadvantages are high taxes and less trust protection. The trust you designate as an IRA beneficiary will be one of two types: a conduit trust or a discretionary trust. With a conduit trust, all required minimum distributions (RMDs) pass through the trust and are paid to the beneficiaries. With a discretionary trust, Slott points out, the trustee has the flexibility to determine whether the RMDs will be “paid to the trust beneficiaries, retained in the trust for protection, or held for successor beneficiaries.”
GM to recall over 449,000 pickup trucks, SUVs in US
General Motors is recalling 449,671 pickup trucks and SUVs in the U.S. due to inoperative low brake fluid warning, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.