[sjc328]

Unfortunately, I suffered the loss of both parents (Ages 62 and 60) and my great Uncle (Age 84) within a three month period last year. Being an only child, this tragedy has left me in a position to inherit a very large sum of money (sole beneficiary and primary beneficiary respectively) and I am trying to best strategize to mitigate the tax implications to me. After Federal and State inheritance taxes are paid, My parent's estate is roughly 230K plus an additional 441K in an IRA. After similar taxes are paid on my Uncle's estate, there is about 2m from his estate (no IRA). My concern is that I will get hit with a massive income tax bill once funds are transferred to me. I think I can spread the value of my parent's IRA out over my lifetime per the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (and I believe can also skip 2009 RMD's with recent legislation). I'm looking for ways to stretch the other distributions to avoid the 35% tax bracket if possible (about 373+K income for 2009). My job income is roughly 85K per year. I would appreciate any thoughts that this community may have. Thank you in advance....