Required Minimum Distributions and SIMPLE IRAs: Today’s Slott Report Mailbag

Thursday, December 29, 2022

By Sarah Brenner, JD
Director of Retirement Education
Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport

QUESTION:

I have an inherited IRA from my father. He was born 9-27-1927 and died 7-19-2019 at age 91. I was born 12-13-1952 and my age is 70. Two on-line calculators offered by brokerages show the factor this year (2022) to be 18.4 on my inherited IRA from my father. I cannot verify that factor on any of the IRS tables. Could you copy me or direct me to the correct table?

Many thanks,

Jim

ANSWER:

Jim,

Since you were born in 1952, you turned 67 in the year your dad passed away (2019). Required minimum distributions (RMDs) on that account started in 2020 when you turned 68. (Even though RMDs were waived in 2020 by the CARES Act, we still use 2020 to calculate future RMDs.) Using 68 and the Single Life Expectancy Table, your corresponding factor in 2020 was 20.4. We then subtract 1 from that original factor for each successive year. In 2022 your RMD factor is down to 18.4. In 2023 it will be 17.4, etc. Note that we must use the new version of the Single Life Expectancy Table introduced in 2022 and overlay those numbers back to your first RMD year in 2020.

QUESTION:

Can a client convert SIMPLE IRA assets to a Roth?  Thank you for your help.

Hugh

ANSWER:

Hugh,

Historically, SIMPLE plans were not allowed to maintain a Roth component. Meaning, you could not house Roth dollars within a SIMPLE. However, pre-tax SIMPLE dollars can be converted to a Roth IRA, which will exist outside of the confines of the SIMPLE plan. Be aware that, to avoid any penalties, there is a 2-year wait period before SIMPLE dollars can be withdrawn or converted to a Roth IRA. (*Note that SECURE 2.0, passed just last week, allows SIMPLE plans to have a Roth component beginning in 2023. How pre-tax SIMPLE dollars can be converted to Roth SIMPLE within the plan is still unknown.)

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