Many retirees watched as the value of their retirement accounts plummeted during the second half of 2008. Existing tax rules would have forced those retirees to further deplete their retirement accounts when they are at their lowest by taking required minimum distributions. The Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed on December 23, 2008, suspends required minimum distributions from IRAs or other qualified plans for 2009. Required minimum distributions for 2008 were not suspended by the new law. The new law does not relax the rules that penalize taxpayers for taking early distributions from IRAs and other qualified plans. Some lawmakers had proposed allowing a limited amount of early distributions from such retirement accounts without penalty for 2008 and 2009 to help those taxpayers suffering during these difficult economic times. Those proposals were not included in the final legislation. For more information, please contact Greg Winters at (312) 840-7059 or gwinters@burkelaw.com.