Above age 70 1/2?  Your 401k or IRA MRD can go to your favorite charity.  Contact the custodian of your plan and have the check sent directly to the charity.

As part of the "fiscal cliff" deal, Congress has resurrected a popular tax-law provision, known as the "IRA charitable rollover," that had expired at the end of 2011.

The rule allows many investors 70½ or older to transfer as much as $100,000 a year from an individual retirement account directly to a qualified charity without having to count any of that transfer as taxable income.

The transfer, if done properly, counts toward the taxpayer's required minimum distribution for that year.

And there still is time for some people this month to take advantage of the rule for 2012. "Charitable rollovers can be made in January 2013 for 2012, and individuals who took mandatory distributions in December 2012 can donate that money to a public charity and not have the distribution subject to tax," according to Independent Sector (independentsector.org), a Washington-based nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of charities, foundations and corporate philanthropy programs.

Courtesy Of Wall Street Journal