In these challenging economic times, you may be considering taking a withdrawal from your traditional IRA. While you're allowed to withdraw funds from your IRAs at any time, for any reason, the question is, should you?
Why you should think twice
Financial professionals generally recommend using your retirement funds for one purpose only—retirement. Why? Because frequent dips into your retirement funds will reduce your ultimate nest egg. Plus, there will be less money available to take advantage of the twin benefits of tax deferral and any compound earnings. Depleting your retirement funds too soon can create a dire situation in your later years.
And then there are taxes. If you've made only deductible contributions to your traditional IRA, then all the funds in your account are subject to federal income tax when you withdraw them. They may also be subject to state income tax. If you've made any nondeductible (after-tax) contributions to your IRA, then each withdrawal you make will consist of a pro-rata mix of taxable (your deductible contributions and any earnings in your account) and nontaxable (your nondeductible contributions) dollars.
All your traditional IRAs (including SEPs and SIMPLE IRAs) are treated as a single IRA when you calculate the taxable portion of a withdrawal. So you can't just transfer all your nondeductible contributions into a separate IRA, and then withdraw those funds tax free. And, if you're not yet age 59˝, the taxable portion of your withdrawal may be subject to a 10% federal early distribution tax (your state may also apply a penalty tax).
10% early distribution penalty
To discourage early withdrawals from IRAs, federal law imposes a 10% tax on taxable distributions from IRAs prior to age 59˝. Not all distributions before age 59˝ are subject to this penalty, however. Here are the most important exceptions:
˘ Distributions due to a qualifying disability
˘ Distributions to your beneficiary after your death
˘ Distributions up to the amount of your tax-deductible medical expenses
˘ Qualified reservist distributions
˘ Distributions to pay first-time homebuyer expenses (up to $10,000 lifetime)
˘ Distributions to pay qualified higher education expenses
˘ Certain distributions while you're unemployed, up to the amount you paid for health insurance premiums
˘ Amounts levied by the IRS
˘ Distributions that qualify as a series of substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs)
The SEPP exception to the early distribution penalty
The SEPP exception allows you to withdraw funds from your IRA for any reason, while avoiding the 10% penalty tax. But the rules are complex, and this option is not for everyone. SEPPs are amounts you withdraw from your IRA over your lifetime (or life expectancy) or the joint lives (or joint life expectancy) of you and your beneficiary. You can take advantage of the SEPP exception at any age.
To avoid the 10% penalty, you must calculate your lifetime payments using one of three IRS-approved distribution methods and take at least one distribution annually. If you have more than one IRA, you can take SEPPs from just one of your IRAs or you can aggregate two or more of your IRAs and calculate the SEPPs from the total balance. You can also use tax-free rollovers to ensure that the IRA(s) that will be the source of your periodic payments contain the exact amount necessary to generate the payment amount you want based on the IRS formulas.
Even though SEPPs are initially determined based on lifetime payments, you can change—or even stop—the payments after five years, or after you reach age 59˝, whichever is later. For example, you could start taking SEPPs from your IRA at age 50, without penalty, and then, if you no longer need the funds, reduce the payments (or stop them altogether) once you reach age 59˝.
Short-term loan
If you only need funds for a short period of time you may be able to give yourself a short-term loan by withdrawing funds from your IRA, and then rolling those dollars back into the same or a different IRA within 60 days. However, watch the deadline carefully, because if you miss it, your short-term loan will instead be treated as a taxable distribution. And keep in mind that you can only make one rollover from a particular IRA to any other IRA in any 12-month period. A violation of this rule can also have serious adverse tax consequences.
Those with questions about this article or who need help with financial goals can contact Phillip Sitar at Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., 33 N. Dearborn St., Suite 1400. He can also be reached at 312-346-1000 (cell: 773-791-4508); Phillip.j.sitar@ampf.com; or www.ameripriseadvisors.com/phillip.j.sitar.
Copyright 2012
