In a tax year when many investors are seeing steep and agonizing decreases in their life savings, the stock market decline might have an especially harsh impact on senior citizens who could be forced, by law, to sell while their share values are down in order to avoid a severe penalty.

Although Congress is looking at easing the requirements, the law now requires individual retirement account owners to begin pulling out minimum amounts each year once they reach 70 1/2 years old.

The tough part is that the required withdrawals are based on a percentage of what the IRA and 401(k) portfolios were valued at the end of last year. If the account was heavily weighted in stocks, it could have easily lost 30 percent to 40 percent over the past 12 months.

"Seniors are getting hit both ways," said Angela Foreshaw, a spokeswoman for AARP Pennsylvania. "If their retirement accounts have fallen and they have to [make mandatory withdrawals] and pay taxes on a higher amount, it's putting them in a difficult financial bind."

That's especially hard for seniors on fixed incomes, she said. "We recommend seniors review their portfolios, determine how much they lost, the yearly taxes they'll pay, and seek financial advice. This is the time to pay attention to financial matters now more than ever."

Although time is running out for Congress to act, it is still possible that lawmakers might provide last minute relief for investors who have not yet made the full withdrawal.

Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that would temporarily suspend the penalty for seniors who fail to take the required minimum distribution from IRA, 401(k) and 403(b) retirement accounts. The measure must still, however, pass the Senate and be signed by the president before it becomes law.

Some investment strategies will be hit harder than others. "You could have an IRA loaded with cash and CDs and you'd be all right," said Howard Davis, president of Davis, Davis & Associates, a Downtown accounting firm. "But the experts have encouraged more allocation to equities even if you're older due to the effects of inflation.

"What hurts is if you're down 30 to 40 percent and you have to make the withdrawals. I haven't talked to anyone who tells me they're up this year in the market. I have quite a few clients who are older, and I guess quite a few of them are down this year."

About $2 trillion evaporated from workplace retirement plans between October 2007 and October 2008, said Andy Eschtruth, a spokesman for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. That figure includes IRAs and 401(k) plans, which have become the dominant savings vehicle for. 60 percent of American workers.

The losses are so high largely because many of the investment choices in the plans are heavily weighted toward stocks, which have been in a downward spiral for the past 12 months.

Under the existing law, people over 70 1/2 years old must begin withdrawing a certain percentage of the account balance or face a penalty equal to 50 percent of what they should have taken out.

The percentage that must be withdrawn varies by the individual's age. For someone who is 70 1/2 years old, the required withdrawal would be 3.65 percent of the total balance. The percentage would increase each year based on life expectancy.

The required minimum distribution rule is the government's way of taxing the income that people were allowed to save tax-free in the retirement accounts during their working years.

There are some issues involved in changing the rules at this point.

Alex Kindler, an accountant with the Horovitz Rudoy & Roteman accounting firm, Downtown, said people who would benefit most from a temporary freeze in the required minimum distribution rule are the more affluent taxpayers who don't need the money in their retirement accounts for daily living expenses.

"People who are less well-off need that money to live on," Mr. Kindler said, adding that many of them have taken monthly withdrawals all year. "What about the people who already took the money out for 2008? There would have to be a provision to allow them to put it back in."

Pittsburgh financial adviser Carrie Coghill-Kuntz, president of the firm DB Root & Co., Downtown, said the most common question she gets from senior clients is how to recover their losses if they have to pull money out.

"We tell our clients even if they have to pull money out they can reinvest it outside of their IRA into the same type of investment that will give them a similar opportunity to recover losses.

"The challenge is: People don't want to sell when the market is down and they are being forced to."