A. To keep from paying income taxes on the value of your account, you need to roll over the distribution into an IRA or another qualified plan. You would then have until age 70 1/2 to start taking distributions from the plan. If the distribution is given directly to you, your plan administrator will be required to withhold 20% for federal income taxes. To roll over the stock and avoid the withholding tax you need to set up the new IRA and then direct your plan trustee to transfer the distribution directly to the new account.

Q. Can you tell me the difference between a loaded mutual fund and a no-load mutual fund? --S.C. Jeffersonville, Ind.

A. A mutual fund can operate either as a load or a no-load fund. A loaded fund charges sales commissions on the purchase, and sometimes on the sale, of shares. There are no sales charges on a no-load fund. Historically, the sales charge or load has ranged from 4.5 percent to 8.5 percent, charged as a front-end fee. For example, on a $10,000 investment, a fee of $850 would be deducted, leaving $9,150 for the actual purchase of shares. Load funds are marketed through a commissioned sales force; the fee is used to compensate the salespersons. No-load funds are marketed directly or can be purchased through managed accounts. The number of no-load funds is increasing rapidly, but load funds still outnumber no-load funds by a slim margin. Studies that test for possible differences in the investment performances of load versus no-load funds generally find that, on average, investors realize higher net returns form no-load funds. If there are no differences in the risk and gross-return performances, no-load funds are generally a better choice for a short holding period.