RMD - Retirement Planning

[Rapid Robert]

There are actually two parts to the 5 year rule.

I pointed out earlier that in the context of the OP, we were talking about the 5-yr conversion look-back rule, not the 5-yr-existence-of-the-Roth rule.

If an account holder wants to convert a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, they must wait at least five years from the first day of the
tax year in which they made the conversion before they can take a qualified distribution. [...] (The age 59 1/2 rule still applies.)

This is a little muddled, and would be completely incorrect except you add a vague "age 59 1/2 rule still applies". What do you mean by the "age 59 1/2 rule" with respect to Roth IRAs? Pub 590-B only mentions such a rule in connection with Traditional IRAs.

After the 5-yr conversion look-back period, taxpayer can take a penalty-free NON-qualified distribution of conversion contributions, just like direct contributions, at any time. And, after age 59.5, the 5-yr conversion rule no longer applies, at all, because (assuming the 5-yr-existence-of-the-Roth rule has been met, which is an assumption I have clearly applied throughout this discussion) it is a qualified distribution. That was the whole point I started with in my first contribution to this thread, which so many still don't seem to understand.

If even one person has learned the difference between a qualified distribution, a non-qualified distribution, and the exceptions to the 10% penalty on non-qualified distributions, I'll feel like my time here has not been for nought.