Ask ICMA-RC

How do required minimum distributions work?

The longer you can keep money in your IRA, 457, and 401 accounts, the more you can benefit from tax-deferred growth. But you must eventually take required minimum distributions.

You must receive at least a minimum distribution from your traditional IRAs for each year starting with the year you reach age 70 ½. To calculate your RMD, add the balance of all your traditional IRAs as of December 31 of the previous year and divide the total by the life expectancy numbers you find in IRS tables for someone your age. (The tables are in IRS Publication 590.) Roth IRAs don't have any minimum withdrawal requirements.

You must also receive at least a minimum distribution from your 457 and 401 plans for each year starting with the year you reach age 70½, or the year you terminate from your employment, whichever is later. The withdrawal amount is based on the same life-expectancy tables that are used for IRAs, but you must take a separate RMD from each of your 457 and 401 accounts each year.

ICMA-RC's licensed, salaried Retirement Plans Specialists provide individual and group counseling to our retirement-plan participants. To contact your RPS, call ICMA-RC Investor Services at 800-669-7400.

If you'd like to submit a question for future issues of Quarterly News, please send it to investorservices@icmarc.org. We will select one question to include in each issue.