Anyone keep funds with Vanguard?

[progree]

6. Oh well. Usually it's the other way around - the market value at year end is lower than it is

when one takes RMDs late in the following year (stock market goes up in 2 out of 3 years or something like that). So on average, we benefit from the lag -- our RMDs would be higher on average if they were based on portfolio value at the time they were taken.

I'll never ever understand why some people are so upset by RMDs -- it was something that I think was clearly presented from the beginning, I did my first IRA contributions in the early 1980s. It was always presented as tax-deferred, not tax-free and that there were RMD requirements when one becomes unfathomably old.