[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]ou may spend decades contributing to your IRA and 401(k). But, eventually, you’ll need to use this money. Before that day arrives, you’ll want to be familiar with the rules governing withdrawals – and you’ll want to know just how much you should take out.

To begin with, withdrawals from traditional employer-sponsored retirement plans like these fall under the Internal Revenue Service’s “required minimum distributions” (RMD) guidelines....