Hi! I attended the February 2021 IRA seminar and had a question re: Roth conversions. he seminar discussed rolling over assets held in a company plan into a Roth IRA. I’m dealing with a client that wants to roll over a lump sum from a state pension plan into a Roth IRA. Can you tell me if in your experience this is generally permitted (assuming tax is paid on the conversion amount)?
Question:
We have a client that owns two substantial IRA accounts plus a smaller beneficiary IRA. Does the beneficiary IRA have its own RMD rules (the client has owned it for 10 years and has been taking RMD’s from it based on the old stretch IRA rules)? Or can the beneficiary IRA be lumped together with the other IRA’s for RMD calculation purposes? If so, can this year’s total RMD be withdrawn from the beneficiary IRA without having to touch the other two IRA’s?
Question:
Dear Mr. Slott,
I really enjoy your publications, website and educational programming on Public Television. You provide a tremendous service and information for investors and advisors alike. My questions pertains to distributions from an Inherited IRA and an Inherited Roth IRA for a non-spouse (daughter).
Rules governing defined benefit (DB) plans are typically more complicated than defined contribution (DC) plan rules. But required minimum distributions (RMDs) are one area where the DB plan requirements are easier to understand.
If you’re in a DB plan, your benefit payments must begin no later than your “required beginning date” (RBD) – just like with IRA distributions or DC plan benefits. Your RBD is generally the April 1 following the year you reach age 72. However, if your DB plan allows the “still-working exception,” you can delay your RBD until you retire.
There are always questions as to the correct way to handle the required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year of death of the IRA owner. This is especially true when a spouse is the beneficiary.
The regulations are clear that even a spouse beneficiary does not get a pass when it comes to the year-of-death RMD. It must be paid out or there will be a penalty. However, a spouse who is doing a spousal rollover by transfer or by treating the account as her own does have some flexibility.
Question:
Your newsletter is so helpful, and your book was a great resource to me when my mom passed away 5 years ago and I inherited her IRA.
I am 76 and have not taken my RMD for 2021. Should I pass away and my wife age 69 transfers my IRA to hers, must my RMD for 2021 be taken first?
Thanks much. A columnist in the Chicago Tribune led me to you years ago.
F. Perry
With all the recent changes to IRAs under the SECURE Act [i.e., required minimum distribution (RMD) age raised to 72, new rules for beneficiaries, etc.], combined with the CARES Act waiver of RMDs last year, it comes as no surprise that we are hearing rumors and conspiracy theories about what will happen next. Here are a couple of the more popular speculations:
Will RMDs be waived again in 2021?
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) were waived for 2020 but they are back now for 2021. This includes the RMD for the year of death of the IRA owner. The rules for this RMD can be tricky. One question that comes up a lot is who must take this RMD.
It is an all-too-common scenario. An IRA owner has passed their required beginning date and is required to take an RMD for the year. However, prior to taking this RMD, the individual dies. Who must take this year-of-death RMD? This is an area of great confusion!
The CARES Act waived required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2020, but they are back for 2021. The return of RMDs for this year has raised questions about how these distributions should be calculated. Here is what you need to know if you must take a 2021 RMD.
I have self-directed traditional and Roth accounts at an SDIRA Custodian. Can I do a Roth conversion of an illiquid asset from the traditional to the Roth account? The investment I want to convert is a debt-only asset (no equity component) generating a fixed 8% dividend. It has a consistent FMV from year to year. I know I will pay tax on the conversion. I am 75 and retired.
Thank you,
