Retirees and preretirees who don't understand the rules governing required minimum distributions—and who may not realize it till tax time—can get some help from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
FINRA has issued an alert offering both basic information about RMDs and providing answers to common RMD questions, focusing on RMDs from traditional IRAs since individuals are responsible for figuring out how much they must withdraw.
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In addition to explaining exactly what an RMD is and when it must be taken, the alert provides information on how to calculate the amount of an RMD, the penalty incurred if one is not taken when required, and the repercussions of taking an RMD from a single account when multiple accounts are owned.
For that last, it depends on the type of plan; some, such as traditional IRAs and 403(b)s, allow the whole RMD for the year to be taken from a single account, while 401(k) and 457(b) plans require RMDs to come from each plan account.
Other questions people often ask include whether they must take an RMD if they own an annuity (the answer, again, is that it depends on the type of annuity), and what happens if the IRA or retirement plan account owner dies before RMDs have begun (there's a whole IRS publication on how and when beneficiaries are to receive distributions from IRAs, and how they are to calculate amounts).
There's also the question of brokerage firm responsibilities with regard to reporting RMDs to investors, and that too depends. While there are no formal reporting obligations, FINRA said that brokerage firms may provide RMD computations as a service to their customers.
But, since even brokerage firms can err when making those calculations, and in the end the responsibility for RMD calculations rests with the account owner, FINRA said, "investors should carefully double-check any brokerage firm's RMD computation using the IRS's RMD worksheets." It also suggested that account owners may want to use its own RMD calculator and/or consult a tax professional.
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