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May 5, 2008 1:28 pm US/Pacific

Withdrawing Money From IRA Accounts

QUESTION:   My question is about the required distribution from an IRA at age 69 1/2. My husband will be 70 in July.  He is retired from the State and has an 457 plan with about 100,000.  We are currently withdrawing $1,000 every month from this account.

According to charts I've looked at, this amount is way more than required.  He also has a "Traditional" IRA with about $45,000.  So the question is, do we have to withdraw the required amount from both accounts or can I withdraw what would be the total amount from just one of the accounts?

ANSWER: This is a great question. The required distributions actually must begin the April following the year in which your husband turns age 70 1/2.  For computation purposes you must aggregate your accounts, but you need not take distributions from each of your IRAs.  You may take the entire minimum distribution from one of the accounts.  You are correct that your required minimum distributions are being met by your current withdrawals and will for some time.  However, at some point in the not to distant future I would consolidate your husband's 457 with his IRA for the ease of management.  I have seen individuals that at some point forget to include separate IRAs into the calculation, and then are faced with the ensuing penalties.  The penalties for not taking the required distribution is 50% of what you should have taken.
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