Inherited IRA's
Since IRA's and required distributions affect seniors greatly, please outline correctly how to calculate non-spouse inherited single person IRA before 2020. Specifically how is the first factor calculated the first year after the death of a non-spouse who had already started taking out RMD's himself and do you use that very same table that was in effect prior to 2020, or do you have to also somehow use new single beneficiary tables as they occur. Everybody, including brokers are very confused on the minus one calculation in the first place, and how new tables are treated in the 2nd place.
I always assumed that the big financial institution handling my parent's IRA I inherited before 2020 was doing so in the correct way. Now that I have to do distributions myself on my own IRA's I began to construct an Excel table that would give me hints of my future income year by year (and affect on taxes and my SS IRMA status--yeah, a shocker). My own IRA RMDs turned out to be easy calculations, but looking back to figure out the factors for inherited non-spouse death prior to 2020 got complicated. After getting 3 different answers from 3 different institutions, I am not so sure. And reading the IRA's 590-B for 2019 gave me limited answers. I would gladly call the IRS, but that has been a huge problem since Covid, worse now. Good luck. You cannot contact the IRS, they only contact you (and it is usually bad news). Please, I would like an informed definitive answer, how was that calculating factor for a death in 2019 figured out in the first place, and how are subsequent factors figured out for the life of that same beneficiary in the light of new IRS Single Beneficiary tables when and if they occur? Admittedly this is more of a baby boomer problem, but there are still tons of us out there.
Here's what I think the answer is for my situation: My first factor comes up in 2020, it is based on my ending age for that year (not when my birthdate is relative to when the RMD is taken out). So let's say the factor is 18. Every year after that, the factor is simply, minus one. So 17 the next year, 16 the next etc. Ah, but a new table of life expectancy factors is created in what 2024. Does that have any bearing? Am I supposed to find the age I was in 2020 on the new table, take that factor and then subtract how many years have gone by to come up with the new factor for the current year's RMD? Logically, the answer would probably be no, just continue doing the countdown from my original factor. But--nothing matches up and I have institutions telling me to look at the revised Table I in '26 590-B. And when has the IRS been logical in all matters?
AARP, please educate me and Big Finance. Those people that are handling our IRAs. I figure that you can get to the bottom of this. Hopefully the IRS is still answering your phone calls. Thank you.