Can I Avoid Taking My RMD After Reaching My Required Beginning Date?

Note:  For 2020, The CARES Act waives all Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts.  However, at present, the general rules (as updated by The SECURE Act) remain in place for future tax years.  

The rules surrounding RMDs are complicated and often require a few conversations with clients to help them understand the issues that must be considered.

To help make this easier, we have created the “Can I Avoid Taking My RMD After Reaching My Required Beginning Date?” flowchart.  This flowchart addresses common questions about RMDs for clients that have reached RMD age, including:

• What to do if  a client forgot to take an RMD
• How the RMD is calculated
• How to handle multiple retirement accounts
• Which RMDs can be combined and which ones can not
• Considerations if the client is still working or a business owner 

Updated for 5/1/2020 (including The SECURE Act and The CARES Act)