First, let's start off with a basic understanding that when we refer to the "beneficiary" of a qualified plan we mean the beneficiary on the death of the participant/employee. That said, then, you'll often hear people say that a qualified plan or an IRA which names someone other than a spouse as beneficiary must be distributed in full within five years after the participant's death. However, for many people a better approach would be spreading out the payments over as long a period as possible. How is this done