If you are over 70 1/2 and have retirement accounts or you have an inherited IRA, you will likely need to take RMDs, or Required Minimum Distributions, by the end of the year. Failure to do so would result in a penalty of 50% of the amount not taken.
Post 70 ½ RMDs
Once you reach age 70½, you must withdraw at least a minimum amount each year from your tax-deferred retirement savings accounts. This includes your IRAs and any qualified retirement accounts such as 403bs, 401ks, etc. Your annual RMD for 2015 is equal to your retirement account balances as of December 31, 2014 divided by your life expectancy factor according to the Uniform Lifetime Table. (If your spouse, however, is more than ten years younger than you, you will need to use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table.
Note that if you are still working full time at age 70 ½ you can delay your RMDs for your current workplace retirement accounts until April 1 of the calendar year following the year you retire. Click here for more information and assistance with your calculation.
Inherited IRAs
You must take RMDs by Dec 31st of the year after funds were inherited. To determine your RMD for this year you will need to take the balance from December 31st, 2014 and divide by the factor (which is age based) on the single life expectancy table.
Here is the table for RMDs for inherited IRAs and here is a calculator to aid with the calculation
