Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Rules Made Simple
Required Minimum Distributions, usually shortened to RMDs, are one of those retirement rules that feel straightforward on paper, but get surprisingly tricky in real life. The reason is simple: the tax system is not designed around the way people actually retire. You might change jobs, roll accounts over, inherit assets, move states, or delay retirement for a year because of a family event. Those decisions intersect with RMD timing and calculation in ways that are easy to mi