<prompt> Human: My life expectancy is around age 50, Im 26 now. Obviously if I die at age 50, the retirement money will be of no use to me. Instead, I want to know if I can use an IRA as a way to efficiently save money for my beneficiaries. Contributing to a traditional IRA would allow me to significantly reduce my current taxable income. As far as I know correct me if Im wrong on death, the remaining funds in your IRA get distributed to your beneficiaries. They can either accept it as a lump sum or distributed over time, and they have to claim it as income on their taxes. Should I use the IRA as an investment vehicle for my beneficiaries, or is there a better method?  <response>: another thought: 25 years is a decent time frame in the world of research. Perhaps a cure will be found in time... 