IRA owners turning 70 1/2 this year must comply with required minimum withdrawal rules — or pay a costly penalty.

If you’re turning 70½ this year, get ready to start taking those mandatory annual payouts (your “required minimum distributions” or RMD’s) from your IRA accounts. Unfortunately, this is not something you can afford to put off. As SmartMoney points out in a recent article, the IRS wants you to take those distributions, and pay the additional income taxes sooner rather than later, and there are stiff penalties for non-compliance.  In fact, if you fail to take at least the required amount each year, the IRS can assess a 50 percent penalty on the shortfall – the difference between what you…

Read More »