You can take distributions from your IRA to satisfy required minimum distributions (RMDs) in cash or in kind, meaning in stock. The option you use depends on what’s in your account and what you want to do with it. You don’t have to sell stock to meet your tax obligation, but be sure that if you’re taking stock, you use the market value of it to figure your RMD.
Generally, an unmarried person who maintains a household for dependents and is allowed to compute his or her tax based on head of household rates, which are more favorable than single person rates.