Just like any other investment plans, the Individual Retirement Account, or IRA, also has a set of governing rules when it comes to withdrawal of funds by the owners. This set of rules will guide owners as to when and what amount of the funds can be withdrawn. These guidelines are rather complicated so it is recommended that account owners who wish to withdraw funds seek the assistance of a specialist like a certified public accountant, certified financial planner, or an attorney who is a tax specialist.

Anyone under 59 years old can access his tax-deferred individual retirement account distributions without being subject to the 10% penalty tax imposed by the federal government provided that the withdrawal falls on any of the ?exception? rules. There are seven exception rules, and each exists for different purposes.

Anyone between ages 59 and 70 has two choices when it comes to withdrawal of funds from an IRA. One is to withdraw the entire balance in the account and the other is to withdraw any amount needed from the account. Whatever the choice of the account owner, he will not be paying the excise tax of 10%. However, the withdrawn amount will be added to his income for the year and will be taxed.

For anyone who turns 70, distributions begin at this age as required by the federal government. If the owner has a beneficiary, payments are based over the joint life expectancy but if there is no beneficiary, they will be based on the single life expectancy.

Anyone whose spouse is the beneficiary will use the joint life expectancy to calculate the minimum annual withdrawal from an "ordinary" IRA, while for anyone whose beneficiary is other than the spouse and is less than 10 years younger than he or she, an ?adjusted age? for the beneficiary must be used, and the owner must recalculate his or her life expectancy.

These are the rules that govern the individual retirement account withdrawals. They may look complicated, but with a help of a financial expert, these will be easily understood by IRA owners who want to withdraw funds from their account.