Minimum Required Distribution OK?

[jevaughn]

I am married filing jointly, both my wife and I have MRDs to take.  Can I take the entire MRD amount out of one of our IRA accounts or do I have to take hers out of hers and mine out of mine?

[DoninGA]

The I in IRA indicates Individual, so you must take the RMD from each IRA account.

[jevaughn]

I know that is not the case.  I know I can take all of mine out of one of my IRAs for instance.

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

---

@jevaughn wrote:

I know that is not the case.  I know I can take all of mine out of one of my IRAs for instance.

---

RMD's for yourself are only taken from your IRA's.  RMD's for your spouse are only take from their IRA's.  As stated.

[jevaughn]

Can I put some of mine back into my IRA?

[macuser_22]

Each spouse has their own IRA and a separate RMD requirement that must be taken from that spouses own IRA.    The total amount of the RMD is based on the 2018 year end aggregate value of ALL Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRA accounts owned by that spouse.  The RMD amount can be taken from any one or combination of those IRA accounts owned by that spouse.  For tax purposes the term "IRA" is singular, but that IRA can be broken into as many separate IRA accounts as wanted, but the IRS treats all IRA accounts as a single IRA.

No part of a RMD can be rolled over or used to fund another Traditional IRA.   Any amount of distribution that *exceeds* the total yearly RMD is not part of the RMD and can be rolled over, but the total RMD amount must be satisfied first.

[jevaughn]

What do you mean by "can be rolled over"?  Does that mean I can put it into a Roth or use it as part of the next year's RMD or put back into the IRA or something else?

[dmertz]

A rollover of an IRA distribution puts the money back into an IRA (or into a qualified retirement plan like a 401(k).  The deadline for rolling over a distribution paid to you is generally the 60th day following the date of the distribution.

You are only allowed to roll over one distribution from an IRA back into the same type of IRA in any 12-month period.  This limitation does not apply to a distribution that you take from a traditional IRA and roll over to a Roth IRA as a conversion contribution.

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

---

@jevaughn wrote:

What do you mean by "can be rolled over"?  Does that mean I can put it into a Roth or use it as part of the next year's RMD or put back into the IRA or something else?

---

You asked "Can I put some of mine back into my IRA?"  Putting back is a rollover and like I said, no part of a RMD can be rolled over or "put back".   Only if your distribution for the year was *more* then the RMD can the excess be rolled over.  That has to be within 60 days of the distribution.