Need Alternate RMD strategy

[Ted_Shepherd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd I am reminded of the old saying "RMD is an obligation to pay taxes, not an obligation to spend it all." If anyone comes up with a viable solution to the RMD puzzle, please announce it here.

I recently married someone a generation younger than myself. Since my spouse is now the sole heir of my IRA (i.e. the designated beneficiary) and is more than ten years younger than me, IRS lets me compute RMD based on the joint life expectancy of me and my spouse. This reduced the RMD more than 25% and postponed considerable income taxes as a result. This is not a complete solution to the RMD puzzle, but marriage has helped me deal with it. YMMV, especially if you are already married.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde Of course to be clear if you leave a 401k or IRA to a beneficiary, they will have to pay the taxes anyway (income in respect of Decedent) and with the exception of a spouse the RMDs are a higher percentage compared to the account owners RMDs (see the IRS pub and tables). .................................................. .............

The bolded phrase seems a bit misleading to me. Though it is true that age for age, the beneficiary table has a smaller number leading to a higher RMD, a more typical comparison is apples to oranges since the beneficiary is typically much younger than the owner and then the RMD would typically be smaller
(tho tax rate could be another consideration).