As the summer heats up, healthcare remains a hot topic. Will the ACA survive? Will Congressional Republicans succeed in repealing and replacing it? As we reach July these questions remain unanswered. One thing that is clear, however, is that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are playing a significant role in the healthcare deliberations. Proponents advocate expanding these accounts as a way to save on health costs and get a tax break. Opponents argue that HSAs can’t help those who cannot afford to fund them.

1. General Rule As a general rule, the account balance used for calculating required minimum distributions (RMDs) is the prior year-end account balance, with no adjustments. For example, if you are calculating an RMD for 2017 you would use the 2016 year-end account balance. If you are calculating a missed RMD for 2014, you would use the 2013 year-end account balance. If you have your first RMD due for 2017 and you take that RMD in March of 2018, you still use the 2016 year-end account balance. As usual with retirement distribution rules, there are some exceptions to the general rule.

As with most IRA rules, there are exceptions to the once-per-year rollover rule. The rule applies to IRA-to-IRA and Roth IRA-to-Roth IRA 60-day rollovers. Just to be clear, an IRA rollover occurs when a check is issued by the IRA or Roth IRA custodian that is payable to the account owner. The following are the exceptions.

This week's Slott Report Mailbag looks into 60-day rollovers, IRA withdrawals, and NUAs.

So you think you don’t need/can’t afford an advisor? Have you considered the cost of making IRA mistakes? Even seemingly simple transactions are subject to rules and restrictions under the tax code. Did you contribute too much by mistake? This mistake cannot be corrected by simply withdrawing the excess amount. There are rules on how to fix the mistake. If you are not thoroughly familiar with the IRA rules, it is all too easy to make a mistake, and mistakes can be very costly.