GREENSBORO, N.C. —
Keep more of your money and pay less in taxes. Good idea.
How you do that depends on your age.
For example, if you're over the age of 70 and have to take an RMD, that's a Required Minimum Distribution from your retirement account,
you might want to think about giving to charity.
“They can give whatever amount they would like and it makes the qualified distribution for them in 2021 and therefore that income is not recognized, but the RMD is met,” says Kevin Robinson of Robinson Tax & Accounting Services.
The RMD and donation lower the taxable income.
A lower tax bracket means you pay less in taxes. If you do go this route, know that you can't get money from your retirement, put it in the bank and write a check. To make it an official RMD and lower your income, you have to make a direct transfer from your retirement account to the charity. Your retirement company can help you with that.
Oh, and giving to charity has more tax savings.
“It does reduce their income and impact the Social Security taxes go down because their income goes down if they're up for some tax credits , but they had too much income to have those kick in, this could lower their income to make them eligible for credits,” said Robinson.
The IRS outlines the RMD guidelines for this year:
You cannot keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely. You generally have to start taking withdrawals from your IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, or retirement plan account when you reach age 70½. However, changes were made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act which was part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020,P.L. 116-94, signed by the President on December 20, 2019. Due to changes made by the SECURE Act, if your 70th birthday is July 1, 2019 or later, you do not have to take withdrawals until you reach age 72. Roth IRAs do not require withdrawals until after the death of the owner.
Your required minimum distribution is the minimum amount you must withdraw from your account each year.