NewRMD.Com Web Site
The purpose of this site is to provide technical and planning information on the Required Minimum Distributions rules for IRAs and qualified plans to practitioners and consumers. For information on the Roth IRA, please see our sister site, the Roth IRA Web Site.
Online Required Minimum Distributions Calculator:
Click here for the NewRMD.Com Calculator (updated for
2002 final regulations: uses the new tables)
In a Special Edition (January 2009) of the Employee Plans News (also released as IRS Notice 2009-9), the IRS discusses the new law that affects Required Minimum Distributions for 2009 stating that ...most participants and beneficiaries otherwise required to take minimum distributions...are not required to withdraw any amount in 2009. The intriguing word is most which suggests that some may still be required to take a distribution. We expect to see some IRS guidance on this in the future. Generally, the 2009 waiver covers life-time Required Minimum Distributions to plan owners and after-death distributions to beneficiaries. There are also special provisions for those taking under the five year rule when that five year period includes 2009 (generally covering distributions from plans with no designated beneficiary where the owner died in the years 2004 through 2008 before the Required Beginning Date)--that five year period becomes a six year period. (Posted on 1/21/09)
The Treasury Department decided not to publish guidance making changes to the 2008 RMD rules. (This is not the same as the changes found in H.R. 7327 as noted below.) The perceived problem with the RMD rules stems from the fact that required distributions in 2008 are based on plan balances from 12/31/07 while the stock market has seen large declines in October and November of 2008. The Treasury Department had apparently considered making some changes to the rules for 2008 Required Minimum Distributions, but decided against doing so. (Posted on 12/12/08, updated 12/24/08)
Congress passed the following bill on 12/11/08 and it was signed into
law by President Bush on 12/23/08:
H.R. 7327, The "Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008"
No Required Minimum Distribution would be required for calendar year 2009.
In other words, RMDs which are based on 12/31/2008 plan balances and are
normally required to be made by 12/31/2009 (or by 4/1/2010 for those attaining
age 70˝ in 2009) would not have to be made. (Posted on 12/12/08, updated
12/24/08)
Final regulations on required minimum distributions were published by the IRS on 4/17/02. The regulations include new life expectancy tables to be used to calculate required minimum distributions. The new tables are mandatory for 2003 with 3 different required distribution methods allowable for 2002: the final regs with the new tables, the 2001 proposed regs with old tables, and the pre-2001 (1987 proposed regs) methods with old tables. The regulations may be viewed on a web page or viewed/downloaded in a pdf file.
Article submissions or requests for links to articles should be sent to info@newrmd.com. Please indicate "NewRMD article" in the subject line of your e-mail.
Articles for the Planning Professional:
| Title | Description (date posted) |
|
New! IRA Moves |
Article by Ashlea Ebeling,
Forbes, 3/2/09. Quote: ...Congress canceled 2009 RMDs for almost all accounts, including 401(k)s and inherited pretax and Roth IRAs. |
|
New! Heir Alert |
Article by Ashlea Ebeling,
Forbes web site, 2/11/09 Quote: Have you inherited an individual retirement account from someone other than a spouse recently? Be careful, or the 2009 required minimum distribution holiday could cost your family dearly. |
| Finalized Regulations for Retirement Plan Distributions | Article by James Lange & Geraldine
S. Skupien (Roth IRA Advisor Web Site, April 2002). Quote: ...the beneficiary to a retirement account must be named before the account holder’s death or the deserving person will be denied the advantages of the beneficiary’s minimum distribution rules. |
| Required Minimum Distributions: Calculations under the Final Regulations | Article by Patrick
Matthews (Brentmark Web Site, 4/26/02). Quote: The 2002 final regulations added more than just a new mortality table to these calculations. They also added complexity. |
| IRS Issues Final Regulations on Retirement Plan Distributions | Article by Ed Slott
(Ed Slott's IRA Tax Center Web Site, 4/24/02). Quote: Overall, the IRS kept the general framework they created in the January 2001 Proposed Regulations based on the positive feedback they received from both the public and professionals. |
| New Minimum Distribution Regulations Bad News for Some Beneficiaries | Article by Barry Picker (Barry
C. Picker Web Site, 4/24/02). Quote: A valid disclaimer or the death of the original beneficiary are situations that could result in a negative adjustment, especially if the account is now deemed to not have a designated beneficiary. In that case, the payout period will revert to the life expectancy of the account holder. |
| IRS Issues Final Regulations under Section 401(a)(9) | Article by Barry
Picker (Barry C. Picker Web Site, 4/18/02). Quote: For most people, the final regs will result in the lowest minimum required distribution. |
| MRDefenses | Article by James
Lange (Roth IRA Advisor Web Site, March 2001). Quote: The new law invites "disclaimer planning" opportunities. |
| An Outline of the New Proposed Regulations on Required Minimum Distributions | Article by Greg Reymann (NewRMD.Com
Web Site, 2/23/01). Quote: PRACTICE POINT: Make sure the designated beneficiary is able to designate an individual to receive the remaining lifetime payments after his or her death. Note: Article includes the uniform distribution table. |
| IRS Issues New Retirement Plan Distribution Proposed Regulations | Article by Barry Picker
(Barry C. Picker Web Site, 1/20/01). Quote: While many aspects of retirement distribution planning have been simplified...retirement distribution planning is still an important part of one’s financial planning. Note: Article includes the uniform distribution table. |
| Required Minimum Distributions: Calculations under the New Rules | Article by Patrick Matthews (Brentmark Web Site,
1/19/01). Comments: This article looks at the new rules from a calculation perspective. |
| Life Simplified and Sweetened--Sweeping Changes for IRAs and Retirement Plans | Article by James Lange (Roth
IRA Advisor Web Site, 1/16/01). Quote: The changes have inspired a new love: "cascading beneficiaries with disclaimer options." |
Articles in the Financial Press:
| Title | Description (date posted) |
|
Disinherited
by Vanguard
Is it time to
move your IRA? (registration required) |
Article by Ashlea Ebeling (Forbes,
9/3/07) Quotes: In late July the Vanguard group sent 170,000 customers a form letter innocuously labeled: "Change in beneficiary policy will help you simplify your planning." A more candid heading would have been: "Warning! Unless you act, we're about to change who gets your Individual Retirement Accounts when you die." When FORBES showed Vanguard's letter to IRA experts, they were outraged. "This borders on the unconscionable," fumed Green Bay, Wis. CPA Robert Keebler. "It's crazy. I don't see how they can change the beneficiaries on your accounts without your consent,'' said Boston lawyer Natalie Choate. |
| Missed Your RMD Deadline? What To Do | Article by Denise Appleby (Investopedia,
1/10/05) Quote: Failing to withdraw your RMD by the applicable deadline may result in you owing the IRS an excise tax of 50% of the RMD shortfall. Note: Another excellent article on this topic is RMD Shortfall? Dealing With The 50% Penalty by Mary Kay Foss in the March 2007 issue of Ed Slott's IRA Advisor. |
| New IRA Minimum Distributions | Article by Kim
Lankford (Kiplinger.com, 5/17/02) Quote: The latest set of rules will offer the lowest minimum distribution for most retirees... |
| Understanding IRAs | Article by Neil
Downing (Projo.com, 5/13/02) Quote (by Ed Slott): Most people who inherited an IRA before now are affected [by the new rules], and it could make a huge difference in how long the IRA stays alive. . . . |
| MoneyLine by Neil Downing: Untangling IRA rules can pay off in the end | Article by Neil
Downing (Projo.com, 4/30/02) Quote: For nearly 14 years, the rules and the tables stayed about the same. Then, within a period of about 15 months, the government changed the rules and tables -- twice. |
| MoneyLine by Neil Downing: IRS simplifies IRA restrictions | Article by Neil Downing
(Projo.com, 4/17/02) Quote: Good news for IRA owners: the IRS said yesterday that it is simplifying the rules you use to figure out how much you must withdraw from your traditional IRA. |
| Title | Description (date posted) |
|
New: Temporary Waiver of Required Minimum Distributions Rules for Certain Retirement Plans and Accounts (sec. 201 of the bill and sec. 401(a)(9) of the Code) |
This is part of the Technical Explanation of H.R. 7327 which was prepared by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. These are pages 24 to 27 which deal with the waiver of the RMD rules for 2009. (12/12/08) |
| Final Regulations on Required Minimum Distributions | The final
regulations on required minimum distributions are now available.
Click on the link to the left to view as an html web page or click
here to download a 42-page Federal Register PDF file, finalrmdregs.pdf, 280K (be
patient while download starts). This is a nice formatted version of the
regs, but it has some mistakes in the Joint Life table. Note: The 42-page PDF Federal Register file has some errors in the Joint Life table. On p. 19016 of this PDF file, the values at the following locations are wrong (vertical age listed first): 25, 23: shows 77.2, but should be 66.2. At Ed Slott's www.irahelp.com web site, there is a 149 page PDF file which has the correct values. The html page link to the above left also has the correct values. Also, the IRS has a 154-page PDF file with the correct values: td8987.pdf. |
| IRS Announcement 2001-23 | The IRS issued this on 3/5/2001. It announces supplements to IRS publications 575 and 590 on pensions and IRAs. It is the IRS' most readable explanation of the new distribution rules. |
| Restated IRS Regulations including IRS Corrections | These are the new IRS proposed regulations with the 2/20/01 wording corrections included. |
| Required Distributions from Retirement Plans; Correction | The IRS issued wording corrections to the proposed regulations. (2/20/01). |
| IRS Regulations REG-130477-00 and REG-130481-00 | These are the new IRS proposed regulations. (1/25/01). |
| Title | Description |
| Consumer's Guide to the Retirement Distribution Rules | Available now at GuidetoRules.com is a $19.95 consumer's guide by Seymour Goldberg and Ed Slott. |
Sy Goldberg's Planning Analysis: Working with the 2002 IRS Final Distribution Rules |
This detailed planning analysis of the rules is available for $49. |
| Barry Picker's Guide to Retirement Distribution Planning | This 40-page analysis of the new rules is available for $24.95 plus $1.75 shipping. |
| Ed Slott's IRA Advisor | This excellent publication is only $125 for a one-year subscription including many back issues. |
| Brentmark Software | Brentmark® has
the following software products that handle the old and new Required Minimum
Distributions rules: Retirement Distributions Planner: $224 download price Retirement Plan Analyzer: $570 download price |