It happens every year. I know there's one vital piece of information that will be required on my tax form. It can only be found at our financial advisor's office. Every year, when we go to the required hour-long meeting in October, I write down that vital piece of information. It's called the RMD. The Required Minimum Distribution. It's an amount that MUST be withdrawn from a retirement account during the year, or you'll face a penalty. It's different every year.
I always take out the RMD. A little extra, usually, to offset the taxes that I have withheld. So I don't have to worry about getting a penalty. I have a record in my checkbook register of how much I get, when it's deposited in my account. And the amount I withdrew is on the tax form I get from the investment company. But that RMD is elusive.
Oh, there are tables on the IRS website. But I don't know what kind of retirement plan I have, regarding the tax lingo numbers and letters. So every March, I make that call to the secretary for the RMD amount. She's quite congenial and efficient.
I'm helping them, really! Helping the secretary and our tax advisor stay employed! An appointment every October, and a phone call every March.
Mrs. HM is a giver like that.
Nevermind that a few minutes after I entered the requested information on my tax form, I looked in my checkbook register for property tax information, and FOUND WHERE I HAD WRITTEN DOWN THE RMD AMOUNT. You know. Because I was SURE I would be able to find it at tax time.
4 comments:
Ha Ha that's funny, writing it down and forgetting about it. It's nice of you to keep people employed this way, along with the millions of others who do the same thing. Our retirement funds are called Superannuation, and we have options to receive a minimum amount or a larger amount on a fortnightly or monthly basis. I chose the fortnightly and get a little extra on the same day as my aged pension goes into my account.
River,
It's not so funny when I do that EVERY YEAR, and still manage to lose what I've written down! And it's not even a full year, just from October until Feb/March.
That is interesting. I've never heard of Superannuation. Ours depends on if it's a private retirement, like my teachers', or from a 401K like some of Farmer H's, that he's set aside while working, or social security, which is from work where that's held out of the salary (not done from teacher wages, where employee pays some, and school pays some).
Anyhoo... I think we can only get ours monthly. Farmer H can choose how much he wants monthly from his 401K, and adjust it when he wants. But the SS and my retirement are set amounts, depending on earnings.
I do that all the time. I will put my glasses in an odd place and tell myself I will remember. I never do! Every day is a new hunt!
Kathy,
Don't forget to search the top of your head! Sometimes I think I've lost my phone, only to realize it is IN MY HAND!
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