Attainment of age 59 1/2
I am looking at the IRS’s Instructions for Form 1099-R and I’m having a hard time discerning when a client attains age 59 1/2. All that 590 and the 1099-R instructions indicate is that the individual must be age 59 1/2 or older to take a normal distribution. Am I correct that this means that an individual must wait until the acutal [u]DAY[/u] that they turn 59 1/2 to be able to take a normal distribution (and not the [i][b]year[/b][/i] in which they will turn 59 1/2)?
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2010-01-20 16:04
Short Answer: It actually means 59 years and 6 months in this situation. As to the exact day, there might be a longer answer or reference in the Regs.
pmk
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Wed, 2010-01-20 21:56
Note that in the following link, the IRS Reg referred to actually addresses age 70.5. The IRS uses the same convention for all half year attainment dates, ie 6 months after the birthday. Note that you must move the day forward if the 6 month anniversary does not exist.
Eg. Birthday Aug 30 or 31st – age 59.5 attained on March 1 because there is no 2/30 or 2/31.
http://www.retirementdictionary.com/definitions/age59-%C2%BD
Permalink Submitted by tomd37 on Wed, 2010-01-20 22:13
Although I cannot “put my hands on it” I remember reading something a year or so ago that says you should wait on business day after you attain age 59.5. I don’t know if that is correct or not, but I would not want to take a chance and be wrong. 😳
Permalink Submitted by Alanna Crawford on Thu, 2010-01-21 17:54
Excellent, thank you!