Don't Mix Required Minimum Distributions!

Taxpayers who have reached the age of 70½ and have qualified retirement plans are generally required to take minimum distributions from those plans annually. Quite frequently, taxpayers have multiple IRA accounts in addition to one or more types of qualified plans.This gives rise to a commonly asked question, "Must I take a distribution from each individual account?" For purposes of the annual required minimum distribution, a separate distribution must be taken from each type of plan. However, a taxpayer may have multiple accounts for each type of plan, which for tax purposes are treated as one plan. For example, you have three IRA accounts. The three separate accounts are treated as one for tax purposes, and the distribution can be taken from any combination of the accounts.

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