HealthView Retirement Planning

Required Minimum Distributions Not Required in 2009

The year after an investor reaches age 70½, he/she is required to withdraw a minimum amount of money from tax-advantaged retirement accounts. This required minimum distribution (or RMD) is required in subsequent years as well.

Investors are required to take RMDs from the following accounts: 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, certain 457(b) plans, IRAs.  

RMDs are waived for 2009 under the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, which the President signed on December 23, 2008. Any investors who took a withdrawal in 2009 may be able to roll the withdrawn amount into another retirement plan. The IRS Notice 2009-9 has more details.

If you don't need to withdraw funds this year you have the opportunity to keep funds tax deferred.

The New Retirement

The term "retirement" no longer accurately describes the lifestyle or period of time when a person transitions from a "typical" job to the next phase of life. My colleagues and I have had countless discussions on this topic, and I was happy to learn that Ken Dychtwald, psychologist and author of numerous books on aging, argues that, 

"...retirement for this generation will be so different from traditional retirement that maybe we'll need a new word to describe it."

Matthew Bandyk covers the topic in his article Why Boomers Will Retire More Comfortably Than Their Parents in U.S. News & World Report this month. He discusses that longer life expectancies account for a longer and different view of the years in retirement.

Then there is the changing view of retirement. In the 1950s it was a sign of success to retire early. This is not the case today. According to Dychtwald, 60 to 65% of retirees don't like the "retirement lifestyle." More and more baby boomers are starting businesses and going to work for both the income and structure.

Clearly, this is not our parents' retirements - so much so that we need a new term to describe it. Any suggestions?