Questions about beneficiaries on Employers 401k/Pension

[Tiny]

TLDR;  What are the pros and cons of adding my 8 nieces/nephews as my beneficiaries on my Employers 401K and Pension Plan?    I also have a Fidelity Roth and Roll Over IRA - should I do something different there or go with the same theme?   

Here's the full info: 

I just realized I haven't updated the beneficiaries for my employers 401k and pension plan in 20 years! (I haven't checked Fidelity - but the beneficiary could be my mother who's been dead for 30years...yikes!)   I've got my older siblings as beneficiaries on my work accounts. I want to change it. They are old. They don't need my money. 

I'm single no kids and doubt I will get married (or have kids) - I'm less old than my siblings but still old.   I have two cats - but I have an agreement with a friend and a niece about their care (what to do and how to get money for their care) should I travel to the undiscovered country unexpectedly.   

I kind of like the idea of being the "weird old aunt" that leaves her "fortune" to her nieces/nephews.

I have 7 nieces/nephews and one step niece (she's the oldest and I've known her since she was 5 so I think I feel funny about not including her even though we aren't close (just like I'm not close to some of my other nephews/nieces).  The 7 nieces/nephews all still use the family name.  Only the step niece has a different last name. Not sure if that complicates things - as in I may need more info on the odd woman out.      I'm going from the experience that when everyone has the same last name they are automatically assumed to be "close family"... and often less info is required (as in how to contact them). 

They are all well into adulthood.   They are starting to have kids themselves. So if I die in the near future the money would be helpful to them. They are in the "build wealth" phase of life. 

That means I have 8 beneficiaries.   I could winnow it down to 4 who are my god-kids if I have to play favorites.  

If I go with all 8 of them on both the Employer pension and 401K  the benefit amounts would be divided 8 ways.  Is that how that would work? 

What are the pros and cons of doing this? Am I making a nightmare for someone?  Is there a better way to make this happen? (and no I am not adding any of you )

Any other ideas on how I can control/allocate my "nest egg" in the event of my untimely demise?  

[jerseygirl]

I’ve been thinking of adding grandkids in addition to our 3 kids. The grands will get some from their parents anyway why not just include them as beneficiaries
Besides then smaller amounts for each would probably mean less of a tax hit

[CCL]

Whenever I've filled out beneficiary forms they ask for primary and contingent beneficiaries' names and dates of birth. They also require the percentage to be allocated for each beneficiary.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Maybe a question for swamp?

I was told not to put my minor kids as beneficiaries because if I died before they were adults the courts had to get involved and appoint a custodian.  Having said that, I still did it because I never got around to the whole trust thing and didn't have a will naming a guardian of their funds, so it would have gone to them anyhow as my next of kin.  Now one is an adult.  I just have to make it 7 more years before the other one is good.  Older is pretty trustworthy, but not sure I want to put him in charge of the whole pot to divy up with his brother. 

[swamp]

May 6, 2021 22:08:18 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Maybe a question for swamp ?

I was told not to put my minor kids as beneficiaries because if I died before they were adults the courts had to get involved and appoint a custodian.  Having said that, I still did it because I never got around to the whole trust thing and didn't have a will naming a guardian of their funds, so it would have gone to them anyhow as my next of kin.  Now one is an adult.  I just have to make it 7 more years before the other one is good.  Older is pretty trustworthy, but not sure I want to put him in charge of the whole pot to divy up with his brother. 

Correct. 

[TheOtherMe]

My 4 adult niece and nephews are the beneficiaries of everything in my estate.  Before they were adults, it was my sister.

[TheOtherMe]

May 6, 2021 20:14:34 GMT -5 Tiny said:

TLDR;  What are the pros and cons of adding my 8 nieces/nephews as my beneficiaries on my Employers 401K and Pension Plan?    I also have a Fidelity Roth and Roll Over IRA - should I do something different there or go with the same theme?   

I kind of like the idea of being the "weird old aunt" that leaves her "fortune" to her nieces/nephews.

I have 7 nieces/nephews and one step niece (she's the oldest and I've known her since she was 5 so I think I feel funny about not including her even though we aren't close (just like I'm not close to some of my other nephews/nieces).  The 7 nieces/nephews all still use the family name.  Only the step niece has a different last name. Not sure if that complicates things - as in I may need more info on the odd woman out.      I'm going from the experience that when everyone has the same last name they are automatically assumed to be "close family"... and often less info is required (as in how to contact them). 

They are all well into adulthood.   They are starting to have kids themselves. So if I die in the near future the money would be helpful to them. They are in the "build wealth" phase of life. 

That means I have 8 beneficiaries.   I could winnow it down to 4 who are my god-kids if I have to play favorites.  

Since your niece and nephews are adults, you can do that.  I needed their SSNs to do it, but it's done.

[Tiny]

Yes, the nieces/nephews are all adults (late 30's to early 40's). 

I will get the forms to make the changes and see what info I have to collect to make the changes.

I know that getting the change forms was the "answer" to the question.  
I didn't know about the "minor" thing.  Which is good - cause I've got a bunch of "grand nieces/nephews" and it's tempting to just make them the beneficiaries... but they are all under the age of 10 (and I suspect there will be an additional 2 or 3 in the next couple of years.) 

thanks for the feed back!

[finnime]

And just so you don't have to change things up in future years, you could leave this part of your estate in equal parts to your nieces/nephews per stirpes. That way if one of them predeceases you their own children would inherit their share. If you want that to happen, of course.

[giramomma]

You should also check to see how many beneficiaries you can have on your pension.

The way my pension works is that I can only name one person as my survivor. Depending on how long I want my survivor to get benefits, that reduces my pension amount.

Once the beneficiary dies, pension is done.

Dad worked at a Fortune 500 company, and his pension is set up the same.

[countrygirl2]

On hubs 401k's its myself as a beneficiary and then our son, that is all that's allowed, I suppose a will might help. We have the rest distributed by will 1/2 to son 1/2 to DD. We need to change that also. The state will just take all of hers, she just needs money in her trust for items she will need such as clothing, hair, computer, and needs like that.