Q. I will turn 70½ after Feb. 19, and will retire from my full-time position at the end of the month. I have notified Social Security, the state retirement funds in two states where I worked, and my fund in a private approved pension fund with accounts from two other universities of my intention to retire at the end of February and to start receiving distributions in March 2014. Is there anything else that I need to do to avoid being hit with that horrid 50 percent penalty?
I received an unsavory email from the Wisconsin Employee Trust Fund scolding me for not filing at age 69½ and hinting that I would owe a 50 percent penalty for distributions not taken in 2013. I see no federal information that indicates that I needed to act at age 69½, or that I needed to begin withdrawals before age 70½. I have relied on the information posted at the Internal Revenue Service website to guide my action, but it seems to contradict the information now being sent to us prospective retirees. I hope that I have done nothing wrong to merit any penalty.
A. Your first required minimum distribution is due by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70½. Subsequent RMDs are due by the end of the calendar year. You are not required to take a distribution from an employer-sponsored retirement plan while you are still working, however.
