On the 31st of December what ever the value of our IRA accounts on that day the RMD requires that those of us 70 1/2 or older must withdraw a certain percentage of our IRA account in 2019 or pay a hefty penalty. ARE you one of them?
Nope, not yet. A couple more years... actually 70 1/2 is 2021 for me. 401k's are also a factor, but the methodology is a bit different from IRA's. Also, Roth IRA's don't have RMD... at least not one you should wish for.
I think they give you until the end of the year in which you turn 70.5 to start withdrawing. I know because I'm a procrastinator. lol
Optional in the year you turn 70.5, but you will be assessed for both years the following year if you don't take a distribution. My wife does taxes, and she is so afraid of the RMD that she wants me to make sure that each account is distributed, even though that is kinda optional as long as you withdraw sufficient funds to meet the obligation and notify all your accounts that you are doing that. If you fail, the IRS can take up to HALF of the Total Value (not what you owe). She doesn't discuss her business, but I get the impression that she has seen this happen to people. In other words, if you have $500,000 in IRA accounts, the IRS could take $250,000 from you if you don't comply with their rules. You don't want that to happen.
Been doing that for 11 years. My financial adviser takes care of it for me. The RMD is deposited in my account at the bank where he works. Hal (I'm 82.)
I pulled some money in December out of an annuity that I've had for about five years. It's not an IRA annuity, so it's post-tax money, except for the interest which is taxable. Of course, they give you your interest first, so the whole amount I pulled out was taxable. I was prepared for this, but I wish I could have pulled out the non-taxable principle first. Wishful thinking.