I flunked the “smarter than a seventh-grader” quiz
In Sunday’s editions of The Oklahoman, I posed the question “Are You Smarter Than a Seventh Grader?” and ran a quiz testing our readers’ financial knowledge. As scores of our highly informed readers have informed me, one of the questions was wrong.
Question 6, which asked at what age one is required to take distributions from an Individual Retirement Account, listed 59 1/2 as the correct answer. The correct answer actually is 70 1/2, which was not among the options offered in the multiple-choice quiz.
Distributions may be taken from IRA accounts at age 59 1/2 without penalty. But the required withdrawals don’t begin until 11 years later.
My sincerest apologies. I have personally rapped my own knuckles with a ruler.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
