IRA Withdrawals

Ray: “I am 62 and do not need my IRA money to live. Is there a formula/guidelines on when/how much to remove each year, considering growth tax-free, tax at withdrawal, inheritance tax etc.?”

Ideally, you’d delay beginning withdrawals until the year in which you turn 70-1/2 . . . and then withdraw the IRS-mandated minimum each year. (There’s a formula, but you have 10 years to learn about it and it may change.)

Also, if you plan to give some money to charity at death, you should do it by naming that/those charities as the beneficiaries of your IRA. Otherwise, your heirs will have to pay income tax on the withdrawals AND estate tax. Give your heirs “regular” money from outside your IRA instead — money on which income tax has already been paid. To the charity it won’t make any difference (charities don’t pay taxes); but to your heirs it will.

(One small drawback: with a charity as the beneficiary, you might be required by IRS regulations to withdraw money from the IRA faster, once you turn 70½, than if, say, your spouse were the beneficiary, thus exposing more of it to taxation.)

Tomorrow: Our Little Stock Quadrupled