IRA distributions prior to RMD after 59 1/2
My husband & I both have IRA accounts.
Husband age 71 IRA balance $1,000,000
Wife age 67 IRA balance $1,375,000
This is the bulk of our assets – we have paid off our home and live off our pensions and SS. No taxable accounts only the IRAs.
We want to start gifting to our children and worked with our CPA who advised we take out $5K per month ($60K annually) from the IRAs.
The question is which IRA (husband or wife’s) is best for this withdrawal this year and next – ahead of husband’s RMDs?
Please advise on how to take the distributions. There are no taxable accounts to gift to the children or no ROTH IRA accounts.
Thank you kindly, Deb
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2024-04-02 22:21
Since the husband will reach RMD age first, taking the distribution from his account will reduce RMDs sooner by drawing down his IRA balance before he starts RMDs at 73. You may want to time the frequency and amount of each distribution to coordinate with the gifting date and amounts, but you don’t have to as you have other income flows. In this situation, you would typically sell investments in his IRA just before the distributions and take the distributions in cash. Check with the CPA regarding gift splitting and gift tax return Form 709.
Permalink Submitted by Deb Venzor on Wed, 2024-04-03 09:48
Thank you for your wonderful expertise and advice.
Most appreciated!