fanfare, thanks for your reply. Your initial reply made me realize I was not thinking about reinvested dividends, interest, and capital gains as "distributions". I agree; one needs to take into account the reinvested distributions in determining account valuation. I was holding my Form 1099-R, "DISTRIBUTIONS From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contacts, etc." in my hand while reading the TT interview text and I was focused on that distribution. That's obviously not the one the TT interview referred to.
I have to respectfully disagree with your second comment, that "a conversion to a ROTH is not a distribution". I would assert that the Traditional to ROTH IRA conversion involves both a distribution, which may include taxable amounts, plus a reinvestment within 60 days.
