The payments must continue for at least five (5) years or until you are age 59½, whichever period is longer.

You must take the payments at least annually.

The payments must be substantially equal and generally may not be changed or stopped during the payment term, unless you become disabled or die.

You may not roll over or convert your 72(t) payments.

The 72(t) payment plan is only applicable to the IRA from which you calculated your initial payment. Before setting up a 72(t) payment plan, you can split your IRA into two IRAs, if desired.

You can use one IRA to calculate and take your 72(t) Series of Equal Periodic Payments, while the other can remain available for future non-72(t) use.

You can switch to the RMD method from either the amortization or the annuity factor method. This is a one-time irrevocable switch and you must use the RMD method for the remainder of the schedule. Any modifications beyond this, would retroactively trigger the 10% penalty back to the beginning of your 72(t) plan. This can be very costly.

The IRS has approved 3 methods for calculating 72(t) payments. Those methods are the required minimum distribution (RMD) method, the amortization method, and the annuity factor method. While other methods of calculating the payments are not prohibited, it would be extremely risky to use some other method that is not officially “blessed” by the IRS.

An extra withdrawal is considered a modification of the payment schedule. Any change in the account balance other than by regular gains and losses or 72(t) distributions, will be also considered a modification and the 10% penalty will be triggered. This means that you cannot add funds to your IRA either through rollovers or contributions.