Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• BENEFICIARY
  
  A beneficiary is the person or organization who receives assets that are held in your name in a retirement plan, or are paid on your behalf by an insurance company, after your death. If you have established a trust, the beneficiary you name receives the assets of the trust. A life insurance policy pays your beneficiary the face value of your policy minus any loans you havent repaid when you die. A retirement plan pays your beneficiary the accumulated assets or requires the beneficiary to withdraw assets either as a lump sum or over a period of time, depending on the way the plan is set up. You may name any person or institution or several people and institutions as beneficiary of a trust or life insurance policy. Some retirement plans require that you name your spouse as beneficiary unless you get his or her written permission to name someone else.
  
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