With 1 bond fund down 10% you have to sell a lot more shares at a loss than from the fund that is down just 1%. Wouldn't the obvious answer be the fund that has lost the least is the one to take the RMD from?
I'm confused about this too. I have to take an RMD this year. I go back and forth about whether to take it from the Total Stock Market Index or my Settlement Fund. The TSMI is down a lot so the Settlement Funds seems better. The money will go into my taxable account as I have no need for it as income. I wanted the stock market to be high like 4500 area, take it from TSMI and park the money in the taxable account's Settlement Fund or 1 month T bills and when/if the stock market drops a lot then buy the TSMI in the taxable account. Pure market timing, sell high and buy lower, but it seems like a better method. The point is, all I ever did was accumulate, having to sell something is not something I am familiar with.
I'm not really asking for advice on what to do cuz I don't want to hijack Steve's thread, just expressing how, like Steve, I am not really sure how to handle this as it is something I have never done.