I liked the discussion. I have a question or comment. Since a person who has a traditional IRA must take the withdrawal, do studies show the it makes a big difference when you take it? I would think that keeping the money in the account would allow the overall portfolio to appreciate. Kind of like a savings account. The longer you keep the money in the account the more interest it accrues. I am really glad that he validated my statement that yes you must take it out but you do not have to spend it. You could put it into a non taxable fund. That way the taxes would be less. You could donate it to a charity as well to reduce your taxes if you want to. A financial consultant that can advise you on making these distributions tax deductible would be an important point to avoid legal ramifications.