Reasons To Think Twice About A 72(t) Payment Plan
November 17, 2020
Don't be lured into withdrawing IRA funds before age 59-1/2 by an IRS rule that allows you to avoid the 10% penalty.
For many Americans, their IRA is their biggest, or maybe only, savings available. It may be tempting to consider tapping into it in these challenging times. Distributions taken before age 59 ½ are subject to a 10% early distribution penalty. However, there is an exception for a series of substantially equal periodic payments (often called “72(t) payments”). While this may seem like a good opportunity to access IRA savings penalty-free, here are 3 reasons why you may want to think twice before you start a 72(t) payment plan from your IRA.
- There is not a lot of flexibility: Many times, those who are interested in 72(t) believe they can simply choose the amount they would like to take from their IRA each year. It’s not that easy. There are specific formulas that must be used to calculate 72(t) payments. If your IRA balance is small, the amount you can take may be disappointing and not enough to meet your needs.
- It is a long-term commitment: A 72(t) plan should not be entered into lightly because it is a long-term commitment. When you start 72(t) payments, you must continue them until you reach age 59 ½ and five years have passed. Both requirements must be met.
- It is easy to make mistakes and penalties are harsh: Because the calculations for 72(t) payments are so precise and because they must go on for such a long time, it’s easy for mistakes to happen. When the payment stream is modified (with limited exceptions), the 10% penalty will apply to all the distributions taken before age 59 1/2.
Be sure to read this article if you are contemplating a 72(t) payment plan.
Stout Bowman regularly posts important and interesting information on our blog. Current topics include credit/debit/loans, estate planning, insurance, investing, Medicare, retirement, Social Security and taxes, as well as general information that we think you might find of interest. 
We have been publishing an email newsletter for our clients and friends since 2016. Links to all of the newsletters can be found on our newsletter page, with the most recent listed first. We try to keep our emails short, so there are typically only three articles in each one, most of which link to other articles in the financial and mainstream press. 
We also have a page on our site for the latest news about our company, notice of any upcoming events, and a market commentary to discuss what our advisors and other financial industry experts conclude about the previous investment performance and what we might expect the markets and the economy will do in the coming months. 
Many news organizations offer what is called a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed, a listing of the latest changes to their site's content. We have subscribed to several of these news feeds and present a list of their latest ten articles on a page on this website to save our clients the hassle of going to multiple websites just to see what is available. Currently, we subscribe to 
At Stout Bowman every investment client is first a financial planning client; it's important to go through that process before we make any professional investment recommendations. Therefore, we strive to make financial planning understandable and comfortable every step of the way. One way to do that is to provide our clients access to financial education resources. To that end, we have subscribed to educational websites to receive their news feeds and present a list of their latest ten articles on a page on this website. Currently, we subscribe to