Generally qualified retirement accounts such as pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs offer good and meaningful protections from creditors. Traditionally under federal bankruptcy laws (states offer varying levels of protection) up to $1.25 million in an IRA has been protected from creditors. A 2014 Supreme Court ruling, however, reduced the protections afforded if the funds are held in an ‘inherited’ IRA. The Supreme Court in Clark v. Rameker stated ‘inherited’ IRAs are NOT retirement funds and, therefore, lack the creditor protections afforded under federal law.