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December 26, 2008
By Anne Tergesen
The Wall Street Journal

Retirees who ignore the annual distributions they are required to take from their individual retirement accounts usually run a big risk -- in the form of a 50% excise tax on the amount they should have withdrawn. But not next year.

On Tuesday, President Bush signed legislation that suspends the rule requiring older Americans to take withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as traditional IRAs and 401(k)s.

But there are hitches. The suspension lasts for just one year, 2009. And while intended to give beaten-down retirement accounts time to rebound, the new law may also present confusion, particularly for those just starting to take required withdrawals
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"The [existing] rules are confusing enough," says Ed Slott, an IRA consultant in Rockville Centre, N.Y. "Now, more people than ever are going to get tripped up."

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