How often do you have to take required IRA withdrawals?

The required minimum distribution of an IRA has to be withdrawn from a retirement account each year. It can be taken once at any time during the calendar year, or it can be made up of several smaller distributions, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Meeting an RMD does not necessarily mean taking a distribution from every account that the taxpayer holds, notes the IRS. The minimum distribution for each account is determined, often by the plan administrator. Taxpayers who have multiple accounts of the same plan type, such as IRA, 401k or 457b, total up the minimum distributions. They then can choose to take distributions from one or more accounts to meet the RMD for each type of retirement plan.