Annette Robinson is a sixty-three-year-old recent widow. Annette is attempting to do some tax and investment planning pertaining to her late husband’s traditional IRA account. She is seeking your advice as to the best course of action. She has informed you that her husband was sixty-nine at the time of his death and had not started taking a RMD.

1. What are the three distribution methods available to Annette?

2. Which method should she choose to maximize tax deferral? Based on the appropriate life expectancy table, how much will her first required distribution be? When will this distribution happen?

3. Which method should she choose to maximize the distribution? Based on the appropriate life expectancy table, how much will her first required distribution be? When would this distribution happen?

4. Which alternative would not have been available had her husband begun his required distributions?

5. If Annette had been younger than age fifty-nine, which alternative would have allowed her to take distributions without incurring a tax penalty?