I am a little under the weather, and so I appreciate that I have this guest post from TJ Valenzuela at Trust Administration Services today! It’s about waiving retirement RMDs. Enjoy!
With the passing of The Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, the penalty for not taking an RMD, or required minimum distribution from retirement accounts, for individuals 70 1/2 or older will be waived for 2009. This can have a number of benefits for people nearing retirement.
In the past, retirement account owners who are at least age 70 1/2 have been required to withdraw the RMD from their …read more

Right now, the so-called “three-legged stool” of retirement income is rapidly losing its legs. Social Security was never a program designed to provide an adequate retirement income — it has always been considered supplemental. By the time I retire, Social Security may not even be a contender. Few companies offer pensions anymore, and if you are close to retirement right now, your tax-advantaged retirement account may be losing value. Which means you need something else to help keep you going. Here are 3 ideas for additional retirement income:

Reverse mortgage. If you have equity in your home, especially if you have …read more

One of the things to remember when you are saving for retirement is that once you reach age 70.5, you are required to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) each year from your retirement account.
Even if you don’t want the money.
If you don’t take the RMD, you will find yourself hit with an excise tax. So, while you do need to remember that you cannot withdraw from most tax-advantaged retirement plans until you are 59.5, you also need to plan for the fact that at some point you have to begin taking RMDs.