As you do your tax and financial planning over the next several months, keep these current and future IRA rules in mind:

• If you are required to take annual distributions from your IRA or other retirement plan, remember that these required minimum distributions (RMDs) were suspended for 2009.
• If you're 70½ or older, you can make a 2009 donation of up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to a qualified charity without treating the donation as a taxable IRA distribution.
• Beginning January 1, 2010, the $100,000 income limit for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is eliminated. This rule change essentially allows everyone at every income level to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth.

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