The IRS requires that most owners of IRAs withdraw part of their tax-deferred savings each year, starting at age 72 (age 70½ if you attained age 70½ before 2020) or after inheriting any IRA account for certain individual beneficiaries. That withdrawal is known as a required minimum distribution (RMD).
In this regard, how is an inherited 401k distributed?
Inherited 401(k) distribution options
Roll the money over into your own 401(k) or IRA (spouses only). Take a lump-sum distribution. Withdraw all funds by the end of five years after the owner’s death (only if the account owner died before 2020).
If a person is due to reach age 70 ½ in 2020 or later, they can take their first RMD by April 1 of the year after they reach the age of 72. In other words, you must withdraw the inherited funds within 10 years and pay income taxes on the distributed amounts.
Keeping this in view, what happens when you inherit a retirement account?
Key Takeaways
If you inherit a loved one’s retirement account, you may be required to take payments from it, depending on the required beginning date (RBD) and who the beneficiary on the account was. If a spouse is the sole beneficiary of a retirement account, one set of distribution rules apply.