Required Minimum Distribution — which stocks to sell?
Any guidance/rules as to which stocks should be sold to comply with RMD requirements? Sell "winners" "losers" take a percentage from each stock in your portfolio, etc? Thanks.
Terry Says
Taxes aren't really a consideration in making RMDs from retirement plans, since ALL the money will be taxed as ordinary income. So the decision should be made on the investment merits. There are so many Wall Street sayings on the topic. A few of my favorites are: "Cut your losses, and let your profits run." OR "You can never go wrong by taking a profit." Yes, these directly contradict each other! Each stock should be judged solely on the basis of "would I buy this stock today at this price?" If not, sell. And if it turns out you have a lot of stocks to sell, and wind up with a lot of cash, that's not so bad. You won't have to make the decision next year, since you will already have cash on hand for your RMD.
