Headlines about "Distributions - req. minimums"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Guidance Overview] Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
My wife (age 70, born September 1, 1931) and I both work for a small company (C corp) that had an SEP IRA but has recently switched to a calendar year 401(k) plan. My wife would like to roll over funds from the SEP IRA into the 401(k) plan. She would also like to roll other 'regular' IRA funds into the plan, as well as some 403(b) funds saved while working for a former employer. The goal is to avoid required minimum distributions. Can we? She is the President of the C corp and owns 4.96%. I am the CEO and own 4.5%. (BenefitsLink.com)

IRAs Can Use Longevity Annuities as Assets But Drawbacks Exist
"Under the proposed regulations, annuity distributions from qualified contracts may be deferred, but only until the first day of the month after the person's 85th birthday. The regulations do not contain any restrictions preventing these contracts from offering owners the option of starting distributions at an earlier age, but doing so would probably increase the cost of a contract." (Financial Planning)

Should Households Base Asset Decumulation Strategies on Required Minimum Distribution Tables? (PDF)
"Households managing wealth decumulation in retirement must trade off the risk of outliving their wealth against the cost of unnecessarily restricting their consumption. Devising an optimal decumulation plan, reflecting uncertain mortality and asset returns, is well beyond the abilities of most households, who likely rely on rules of thumb. Using numerical optimization, we compare one such rule of thumb -- consuming the age-related percentage of remaining wealth specified in the IRS Required Minimum Distribution ... tables -- with alternatives and with the theoretical optimal." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

Ensure your Plan Participants are Prepared for a Secure Retirement
Defined Contribution Conference, March 11-13, in Miami. Learn from your peers through presentations and discussions on plan design, communications, investment options and more. FREE registration for qualified plan sponsors. (Pensions & Investments)

Avoid the Common Mistakes Affecting Plan Loans Webcast
Earn CE credit while ERISA expert, Charles Lockwood, JD, LLM, explains the administrative issues that affect plan loans. Have questions? Charles will address them either during or after the webcast. March 22nd at 2pm EST. (ASC)

[Guidance Overview] Treasury Department and IRS Release Initial Lifetime Income Guidance
"The decline of traditional defined benefit pension plans and the increasing prevalence of defined contribution retirement plans ... has created significant interest in providing lifetime income for participants in defined contribution plans ... This initial round of Treasury and IRS guidance on lifetime income focuses primarily on how the minimum distribution rules, joint and survivor rules, and disclosure rules apply to longevity annuity contracts." (McDermott Will & Emery)

Do Tax Rates Go Up or Down in Retirement?
"The decision about whether to opt for Roth tax treatment of your retirement assets--where you pay taxes upfront in exchange for tax-free withdrawals later on--requires you to make a judgment about whether your taxes will be higher in retirement than they were while you were working.That's a lot harder than it sounds ..." (Morningstar)

Budget Proposal to Eliminate Minimum Required Distribution Rules for IRA or Annuity Plan Balances of $75,000 or Less (PDF)
"The proposal would be effective for taxpayers attaining age 70 on or after December 31, 2012." (The White House via BenefitsLink.com)

IRAPerk Buried in Obama's Budget.
"President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 may be calling for new taxes on the wealthy, but it includes a perk for older people with relatively small IRAs. Deep in the budget is a provision that would eliminate required minimum distributions for people who are at least 70? years old whose tax-deferred retirement-plan balances do not exceed $75,000." (The Wall Street Journal)

[Official Guidance] IRS Retirement News for Employers, Winter 2012 Edition, February 13, 2012 (PDF)
The Winter edition includes: Plan Issues: 401(k) Questionnaire Interim Report ? comments and highlights; Use an employee's entire calendar-year compensation for determining employer contributions to SIMPLE IRA plans; April 30 deadline for employers to adopt and submit determination letter applications for pre-approved defined benefit plans; Plan Loans: What's a reasonable interest rate for participant loans? Before you take a loan from your retirement plan, there are a few rules you need to know; and, Forms: Tips for Form 5558 requests for extension to file Form 5500-series returns; Using old forms may cause errors and could result in processing delays. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Highway Bill Would Be Funded at Least in Part by Changing the Tax Treatment on Retirement Accounts
"Specifically, the modified [Senate Finance Committee] chairman's mark of the proposed Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth bill would require that age 70-1/2 account distributions be treated, for tax purposes, as distributed within five years of the death of the account holder (unless the beneficiary is the account holder's age, a child with special needs, or older than 70)." (EBRI.org)

Looking to 70 1/2, a Magic Number in Retirement Plans
"If you have more than one retirement account other than Roth I.R.A.'s, which don't have required minimum distributions, you need to calculate the distribution separately for each but are then permitted to withdraw the total from any single source or a combination. So if you have four I.R.A.'s, you can withdraw your total R.M.D. from one of them." (The New York Times; free registration required)

[Guidance Overview] Proposed Regulations on Longevity Annuity Contracts (PDF)
"The account balance is reduced by the value of the [Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract] to arrive at the amount to use for the [required minimum distribution] calculation. This, in essence, eliminates the potential need to begin taking distributions from the QLAC earlier than anticipated, which would increase the cost of the annuity and reduce the account balance faster than may be necessary." (Ascensus)

[Guidance Overview] American Benefits Council Summary of Proposed Changes to After-Death Minimum Required Distribution Rules in the Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act (PDF)
"If a participant or IRA owner dies on or after the required beginning date, the minimum distribution rules can be satisfied by distributing the remaining assets in the plan or IRA over the life expectancy of the designated beneficiary. Under the proposal, the five-year rule would apply in all cases, regardless of whether the participant or IRA owner dies before the required beginning date, or dies on or after that date, unless the beneficiary is an 'eligible beneficiary.'" (American Benefits Council)

[Opinion] Treasury and IRS Successfully Lay the Base for Lifetime Income: The '2012-3 Annuity' and the QLAC
"With just a relatively short regulation and a Revenue Ruling, Treasury simply and in a very straightforward way laid out the definitive structure for defined contribution plans (like 401(k) plans) to start providing lifetime income in a market friendly manner. The two pieces of guidance dealing with DB plans which were issued at the same time are very useful, but the meat of the matter is the critical guidance given under the proposed RMD regulation and the spousal consent Revenue Ruling, 2012-3." (Robert J. Toth, Business of Benefits)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Wants to Offer RMD Relief for Longevity Annuity Contracts in 403(b)/457, Other Retirement Plans
"Based upon [comments received], Treasury and the IRS concluded that 'substantial advantages' exist to modifying the RMD rules to make it easier for a participant to purchase a deferred annuity that is scheduled to commence at an advanced age -- such as age 80 or 85 -- using a portion of his or her account. Accordingly, the proposed regulations . . . would provide that before annuitization, a participant could exclude the value of a longevity annuity contract that meets certain requirements from the account balance used to determine RMDs." (Thompson)

[Official Guidance] Proposed IRS Regs on Longevity Annuity Contracts
"This document contains proposed regulations relating to the purchase of longevity annuity contracts under tax-qualified defined contribution plans under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), section 403(b) plans, individual retirement annuities and accounts (IRAs) under section 408, and eligible governmental section 457 plans. These regulations will provide the public with guidance necessary to comply with the required minimum distribution rules under section 401(a)(9). The regulations will affect individuals for whom a longevity annuity contract is purchased under these plans and IRAs (and their beneficiaries), sponsors and administrators of these plans, trustees and custodians of these IRAs, and insurance companies that issue longevity annuity contracts under these plans and IRAs." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Official Guidance] Bill Text for H.R. 3819: Health Freedom for Seniors Act
"To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the transfer of required minimum distributions from a retirement plan to a health savings account." (The Library of Congress)

[Opinion] Those 403(b) RMD Amendments and Corporate Resolutions
"Some vendors are presenting [RMD amendments for 403(b) plans] to plan sponsors for their signature by year end, as the vendor may have taken it upon itself to generally waive these requirements for those 403(b) customers with individual contracts." (Robert J. Toth, Jr., Business of Benefits)

[Official Guidance] 'Retirement News for Employers', Fall 2011 Edition, Published by IRS
Articles include: Paying Retirement Plan Benefits; Maximize Your Retirement Savings in 2012 [through salary deferral contributions]; SEPs and SIMPLEs; Disaster Relief for Retirement Plans and IRAs; Exam Director Discusses Priorities For The Current Fiscal Year. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] Approaching Deadline for Defined Contribution Plans
"Employers who sponsor 401(k) or other defined contribution qualified retirement plans and who chose to take advantage of the opportunity to suspend required minimum distributions during 2009 must amend their plans to reflect the suspension before the last day of the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2011. This means that calendar year plans must be amended by December 31, 2011." (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)

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