Retirement Terms Beginning with ‘N’
Naked Trust: “A straightforward type of trust into which a trustor transfers assets (money or property) in order to pass them on to beneficiaries. The initial owner of the assets (the trustor) loses all control over them once they are placed in the trust. The trustee has only nominal control of the assets in the trust. The trust's beneficiary has absolute entitlement to the assets once he or she turns 18.
Also known as a "bare trust," "dry trust" or "passive trust." “
Named Beneficiary: “This term refers to any beneficiary named in a will, a trust, an insurance policy, pension plan accounts, IRAs, or any other instrument, to whom benefits are paid. Named beneficiaries are the beneficial owners of the property and will share in the proceeds at the time of disposition. In an annuity policy, for example, the policyholder and the named beneficiary may be the same person.”
Named Fiduciary: “The fiduciary that holds responsibility over a given financial account. The named fiduciary is responsible for operating and administering a qualified retirement plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which is meant to protect participants in private-sector retirement plans. The named fiduciary is required to act in the plan participants' best interests. However, the named fiduciary is not required to be a financial expert, so it may choose to appoint an investment manager to oversee the plan's assets.”
National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC): “A nationwide coalition of estate planners and estate planning councils dedicated to establishing and maintaining high standards of competence for the estate planning profession. NAEPC offers two estate planning credentials, the Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) and the Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS). The organization seeks to promote the value of estate planning through various marketing and public education programs.”
National Insurance Contributions (NIC): “Payments made by employees and employers into the United Kingdom's National Insurance (NI). National insurance contributions initially funded programs for the ill and unemployed, and later on eventually paid for state pensions too. Contributions fall into categories which can either count toward an individual's eligibility for benefits or are paid without counting towards any type of entitlement depending on the category it falls under.”
National Pensions Reserve Fund: “The National Pensions Reserve Fund is a public pension fund established by the Republic of Ireland. The Government of Ireland makes annual deposits of 1% of GNP into the fund. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the fund has approximately $30.6 billion in assets under management.”
Needs Approach: “A method of calculating how much life insurance is required by an individual/family to cover their needs (i.e. expenses). These include things like funeral expenses, legal fees, estate and gift taxes, business buyout costs, probate fees, medical deductibles, emergency funds, mortgage expenses, rent, debt and loans, college, child care, private schooling and maintenance costs. The needs approach contrasts the human-life approach.”
Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA): “The NUA is important if you are distributing highly appreciated company stock from your tax-deferred employee-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k). Upon the distribution the NUA is not subject to ordinary income tax. For this reason it may be better to transfer the company stock to a regular brokerage account instead of rolling the stock over to a tax-deferred IRA: that is, if rolled over to an IRA, the company stock's NUA would eventually be taxed at your ordinary income tax rate (when you take distribute the stocks).”
New Zealand Superannuation Fund: “A New Zealand government fund established in response to the projected increase in the cost of funding the New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) - the retirement benefit paid to all eligible citizens aged 65 and over - due to the country's aging population.”
Next of Kin: “A person's closest living blood relative. The next-of-kin relationship is important in determining inheritance rights if a person dies without a will and has no spouse and/or children. The deceased's estate becomes state property if no legal heir can be identified. The next of kin can also be called upon to make medical decisions for a person who has become incapacitated or to make funeral/burial arrangements. “
Non-Qualified Distribution: “1) A distribution from a Roth IRA that occurs before the Roth IRA owner meets certain requirements (see definition for qualified distributions).
2) A distribution from an education savings account that exceeds the amount used for qualified education expenses.”
Non-Qualified Plan: “Any type of tax-deferred, employer-sponsored retirement plan that falls outside of employee retirement income security act (ERISA) guidelines. Non-qualified plans are designed to meet specialized retirement needs for key executives and other select employees. These plans also are exempt from the discriminatory and top-heavy testing that qualified plans are subject to.”
Non-Registered Account (Canada): “A type of investment account that allows Canadian citizens to save money for the long term. Non-registered accounts only tax the capital gains realized inside the account at 50% of the account holder's top marginal tax rate. And unlike RRSPs, non-registered accounts have no contribution limits.”
Non-Spouse Beneficiary Rollover: “A retirement plan asset rollover performed in the event of the death of the account holder, where the recipient is not the spouse of the deceased. The most common practice for a non-spouse beneficiary rollover is that the recipient receives the balance in a one-time lump sum payment, subjecting them to full immediate taxation.”
Nondiscrimination Rule: “A clause found in qualified retirement plans stating that all employees of a company must be eligible for the same benefits, regardless of position within the company. The rule keeps plans from being discriminatory toward highly-compensated employees and company executives. Nondiscrimination rules are required for a plan to be considered qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).”
Non-Elective Contribution: “A type of contribution an employer chooses to make to each of his or her eligible employee's employer-sponsored retirement plan. The contribution is not based on salary reduction contributions made by the employee.”
Nonperiodic Distribution: “A type of employee retirement-plan distribution that is not considered a periodic distribution. Periodic distributions would include monthly payments, while nonperiodic payments would be one-time lump-sum payments.
Nonperiodic distributions that are paid directly to the employee will be subject to a 10% withholding tax unless the beneficiary elects to have no taxes withheld.”
Normal Retirement Age (NRA): “The age at which people can receive full benefits upon leaving the work force. In the United States, for example, the normal retirement age for receiving full social security benefits is 67 years of age for persons born in 1960 or later. Birth years prior to 1960 have various normal retirement age requirements. Retirement prior to the normal retirement age reduces benefits, and retirement after the NRA increases benefits.”
Notarize: “The act of officially certifying a legal document by a notary public. The purpose of having a legal document notarized is to ensure the authenticity of the signatures that appear on the document. Once notarized, a document will have much more legal credibility and will stand up much better in court if it is ever challenged.”
Notary: “Also called a "notary public," this state-appointed official witnesses important document signings and verifies the identities of the signers to help deter fraud and identity theft. A notarized document will contain the seal and signature of the notary who witnessed the signing and will have more legal weight than a document that is not notarized. Document signings where consumers are likely to need the services of a notary include real estate deeds, affidavits, wills, trusts and powers of attorney.”
Notice of Assessment (NOA): “An annual statement sent by revenue authorities to taxpayers detailing the amount of income tax they owe. It includes the amount of their tax refund, tax credit and income tax already paid.”
Notice to Creditors: “A public notice to the creditors and debtors of an estate. The notice to creditors is usually posted in the public newspaper. The notice requests all interested parties to appear in court and either present their claim or make their payment.”
Nuncupative Will: “A verbal will that must have two witnesses and can only deal with the distribution of personal property. A nuncupative will is considered a "deathbed" will, meaning that it is a safety for people struck with a terminal illness and robbed of the ability or time to draft a proper written will.”