Other Rules on Minimum Distributions

Note these additional rules about required minimum distributions:

Multiple Beneficiaries: If you have designated more than one beneficiary for your IRAs, the beneficiary with the shortest life expectancy must be used to determine the period over which you must take withdrawals from your accounts.

Installments: You may take required minimum distributions in installments (weekly, monthly, or quarterly), so long as the total distributions for the year equal at least the minimum distributions required for the year.

Multiple IRAs: If you have more than one IRA, you must calculate the required minimum distribution for each account. However, you may total the required distributions from each separate account and take the entire amount from any one IRA or from a combination of them. Suppose, for example, that you had two IRAs, one containing $25,000 and the other holding $40,000. If your joint life expectancy were 22.5 years, the distribution from the first account would be $1,111 ($25,000 divided by 22.5), and the distribution from the second would be $1,778 ($40,000 divided by 22.5). You could withdraw the total required distribution -- $2,889 -- from the first IRA.

The MDIB Rule: If you have a designated beneficiary other than your spouse and this beneficiary is more than 10 years younger than the rule, The IRS' Minimum Distribution Incidental Benefit (MDIB) rule applies to your distributions. In a nutshell, you must use a special life expectancy table to determine your "applicable divisor" when calculating your required minimum distribution.