A 64-year-old retired utility lineman accepted a $310,000 lump-sum pension buyout check made out to himself, rather than opting for a direct rollover to an IRA. This decision triggered a mandatory 20% federal withholding, reducing his immediate payout by $62,000, and imposed a 60-day deadline to deposit the full original amount into an IRA to avoid tax on the entire sum. Failure to redeposit the withheld amount within 60 days can lead to it being treated as ordinary taxable income, potentially increasing Social Security taxes and future Medicare premiums.