Taking RMDs This Year Doesn’t Mean You Have to Sell at a Loss.

A lot of people are concerned with taking their Required Minimum Distributions from their IRA this year because everything is down. 

If you don’t need the money to live on, though, it doesn’t need to be a concern. You can do an in-kind distribution from your IRA to your brokerage account. So if you need to take $10,000 out, you can move $10,000 of your stock or fund from your IRA to your brokerage account. You still need to pay taxes on that money, but you can move it without selling the holding.

You could also sell the holding and then move the money and then just buy it again in the brokerage account. It doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t need the money. 

Having to take the RMD doesn’t mean you need to sell something at a low point in the market. 

Obviously, if you need the money to live on, as a lot of people do, and yes, you might have to sell something this year lower than it has been recently, but if you’ve been a long-term investor, you probably still have gains in a lot of things.