Interesting but long study by MIT: http://economics.mit.edu/files/6318
Some snippets:
average PRA balances continued to grow through at least age 85
The Investment Company Institute (2012) reports that PRA assets totaled $9.4 trillion in 2011, compared with $2.3 trillion in private sector defined benefit plans
The Joint Committee on Taxation (2003) estimated that increasing the RMD age from 70½ to 75 would have reduced federal income tax revenues by $3.9 billion in 2012
the median 401(k) balance for households approaching retirement in 2010 was roughly the same as that in 2007. Her findings suggest that the negative effect of the financial market decline largely offset the positive effects of three years of additional contributions to the system
The difference in the probability of making a distribution between the 2008 and 2009 tax years suggests that about one in four households above RMD age would not take a distribution were it not for RMD rules
The average percentage of all PRA assets withdrawn, which is the product of the two foregoing series, is about 1.1 percent at age 60. It rises to about 1.9 percent by age 69, then jumps to about 5 percent by age 71 and fluctuates between 5 and 6 percent through age 85
We conclude that changes in the age at which RMDs are required could have substantial effects on withdrawal patterns and on the tax revenue collected from such withdrawals
Some snippets:
average PRA balances continued to grow through at least age 85
The Investment Company Institute (2012) reports that PRA assets totaled $9.4 trillion in 2011, compared with $2.3 trillion in private sector defined benefit plans
The Joint Committee on Taxation (2003) estimated that increasing the RMD age from 70½ to 75 would have reduced federal income tax revenues by $3.9 billion in 2012
the median 401(k) balance for households approaching retirement in 2010 was roughly the same as that in 2007. Her findings suggest that the negative effect of the financial market decline largely offset the positive effects of three years of additional contributions to the system
The difference in the probability of making a distribution between the 2008 and 2009 tax years suggests that about one in four households above RMD age would not take a distribution were it not for RMD rules
The average percentage of all PRA assets withdrawn, which is the product of the two foregoing series, is about 1.1 percent at age 60. It rises to about 1.9 percent by age 69, then jumps to about 5 percent by age 71 and fluctuates between 5 and 6 percent through age 85
We conclude that changes in the age at which RMDs are required could have substantial effects on withdrawal patterns and on the tax revenue collected from such withdrawals
