Required Minimum Distributions: RMD Ages, Deadlines and Calculations

Key Takeaways

• Starting age: Current regulations specify 73 for people born in 1951–1958 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later. The 1959 cohort requires the qualification explained below.
• Account type matters: Traditional IRAs, including Traditional SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, generally have owner RMDs. Roth IRAs and designated Roth plan accounts do not during the original owner's lifetime.
• Calculation: Use the prior year-end balance and the correct IRS table for the distribution year.
• Deadline: December 31 generally applies; the first owner RMD can usually be delayed until the following April 1.
• Risk: A shortfall generally faces a 25% excise tax, potentially reduced to 10% for qualifying correction, with reasonable-error waiver relief also possible.

Which accounts require distributions?

Traditional IRAs, including Traditional SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and many employer retirement plans have RMD requirements. The rule is not limited to an account's pre-tax dollars: after-tax basis affects taxation, not whether an otherwise applicable distribution is required.

Roth IRAs do not require distributions during the original owner's lifetime. Beginning in 2024, designated Roth accounts in employer plans also have no lifetime owner RMDs. Beneficiaries can still have distribution obligations after the owner's death.

Can working longer delay an RMD?

Employment does not postpone the owner RMD from a Traditional IRA. A current employer's plan may permit a later required beginning date until retirement if you are not a 5-percent owner under the applicable rules. This is not a blanket exemption for all old employer plans. Some plans require earlier payment, and governmental and church plan rules can differ. Confirm the plan's terms.

What is the RMD starting age?

If you were born in 1959: The statute contains overlapping age provisions for this cohort. The current regulatory text at §1.401(a)(9)-2(b)(2) leaves the relevant paragraph reserved. Treasury and the IRS proposed age 73. That proposal should not be presented as a finalized regulation. Confirm the current rule with your plan administrator or tax adviser before relying on a future deadline.

Older cohorts do not restart their schedule when the law raises the age for younger people. The age increase to 75 for people born in 1960 or later does not cancel RMDs already required from someone born earlier.

When is each RMD due?

Owner RMDs are generally due by December 31. The first can generally be delayed until April 1 of the next year. That extension does not also move the deadline for the second year's RMD.

2026 example: An IRA owner born in 1953 turns 73 in 2026. The first RMD uses the December 31, 2025 balance and can generally be taken by April 1, 2027. The 2027 RMD uses the December 31, 2026 balance and remains due December 31, 2027. Delaying the first withdrawal can therefore put two taxable distributions in 2027, subject to any nontaxable basis or other applicable exclusion.

Starting a transfer request on the deadline may leave too little processing time. Confirm the completed distribution, not just the instruction. Required distributions cannot be rolled over, and withdrawing extra this year does not create a credit toward next year's minimum.

How do you calculate an RMD?

RMD = prior December 31 account balance ÷ applicable IRS distribution-period factor. Use your age in the distribution year and the correct table. Most owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table. An owner whose spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger generally uses the Joint and Last Survivor Table. Inherited accounts require a separate analysis; do not automatically apply the owner's table.

Example 1: At age 73, an owner using the Uniform Lifetime Table has a prior year-end IRA balance of $400,000. $400,000 ÷ 26.5 = $15,094.3396…; rounded up to the next cent for this illustration, the distribution is $15,094.34.

Example 2: At age 80 with a prior year-end balance of $250,000, $250,000 ÷ 20.2 = $12,376.2376…; the illustrated distribution is $12,376.24.

These are arithmetic examples, not personalized withdrawal instructions. Transfers, rollovers, annuities, beneficiary changes and other account circumstances can require adjustments. Use the full tables and rules in IRS Publication 590-B, and confirm the result with the custodian.

Can you take the total from one of several accounts?

For your own Traditional IRAs, calculate each account's RMD separately; you can generally take the combined amount from one or more of those IRAs. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs can fall within the applicable owner IRA aggregation rules. Do not combine an inherited IRA with your own IRA or mix incompatible beneficiary accounts.

Each 401(k) generally must satisfy its own RMD. The separate 403(b) aggregation rule can permit combined distributions across eligible 403(b) contracts, but it does not let you satisfy a 403(b) RMD using an IRA. An IRA distribution also does not satisfy a spouse's RMD. Use the IRS RMD FAQs and each plan's instructions.

What happens if an RMD is missed or too small?

The general excise tax is 25% of the shortfall. A 10% rate may apply if you receive the corrective distribution and submit the required return within the statutory correction window. The window ends at the earliest of a deficiency notice, assessment of the tax, or the last day of the second taxable year beginning after the year in which the tax is imposed. “You always have two full years” is therefore an unsafe shortcut.

The IRS can waive some or all of the tax for reasonable error when reasonable steps are being taken to remedy the shortfall. Form 5329 instructions explain correction and waiver requests. Take the missing distribution and obtain tax guidance promptly; paying a penalty does not substitute for completing the withdrawal.

How do inherited IRA RMD rules differ?

The beneficiary's relationship to the owner, the owner's date of death and required beginning date, and the account's tax treatment all matter. A surviving spouse can have options that a non-spouse beneficiary does not. Treating an inherited account as your own can change access and distribution rules, so it is not automatically the best choice for every spouse.

For many designated beneficiaries who are not eligible designated beneficiaries and inherit after 2019, the account must be emptied by December 31 of the tenth year after death. If the owner died on or after the required beginning date, annual distributions generally also apply in years one through nine. If death occurred before that date, the ten-year rule generally does not itself require annual withdrawals during those first nine years. The full balance still must be distributed by the final deadline.

Eligible designated beneficiaries include a surviving spouse, the owner's qualifying minor child, a disabled or chronically ill individual, and an individual not more than 10 years younger than the owner. Different rules can apply, and a minor child's treatment changes after reaching the relevant age. Estates, trusts and other non-individual beneficiaries need their own analysis. Inherited Roth IRAs can also have a payout deadline despite having no original-owner lifetime RMDs.

Transitional penalty relief for certain missed inherited-account distributions in 2021–2024 was limited. Do not assume it excuses a missed 2026 distribution. Ask the custodian and tax adviser to confirm both the annual requirement and the final emptying deadline.

How can you manage the tax impact?

Review withdrawals alongside other income, Medicare premium thresholds, state taxes and charitable plans. A lower tax bill is not guaranteed by choosing a different withdrawal date.

Qualified charitable distributions

Someone age 70½ or older may make an eligible qualified charitable distribution (QCD) directly from an IRA to a qualifying charity. The 2026 annual exclusion limit is $111,000 per individual. A qualifying QCD can count toward the year's RMD and be excluded from income, but you cannot also deduct the excluded gift as a charitable contribution.

Not every charity or IRA qualifies; ongoing SEP and SIMPLE IRAs and certain charitable recipients are excluded. Deductible IRA contributions made at age 70½ or older can reduce the excludable QCD amount. Money paid to you first does not become a QCD merely because you later donate it. See the IRS 2026 adjustment and Publication 590-B before giving instructions.

Roth conversions and other next steps

A Roth conversion can reduce a future pre-tax balance, but generally creates taxable income now and can affect benefits or premiums. An RMD itself cannot be converted; satisfy the applicable RMD before converting additional eligible funds. Compare scenarios with a tax professional rather than assuming conversion always helps. Our Traditional IRA guide explains the underlying tax treatment.

Annual checklist

1. List every owned and inherited retirement account separately.
2. Confirm the applicable age, beneficiary rules and deadline.
3. Use prior year-end balances and the correct tables.
4. Decide which eligible accounts will supply the distributions and whether a QCD fits.
5. Arrange withholding or other tax payments separately from the RMD calculation.
6. Confirm the completed gross distributions and keep the records.

Crowd Work: What Real Users Are Saying

Public retirement-tax questions can focus on withholding and whether a withdrawal was processed correctly. These discussions help identify checks to make, but they are not authority for a tax result.

What helps

Keeping the distribution instruction, confirmation and tax records together makes it easier to distinguish the gross withdrawal from the cash received after withholding.

Common confusion and workaround

Separate November 2024 and November 2024 custodian-withholding discussions describe questions about instructions and tax amounts. Verify that both the gross distribution and your requested withholding were completed; an RMD calculation alone does not determine the right tax withholding.

Overall real-world takeaway

A completed withdrawal and a tax-payment plan are separate items on the checklist. Contact the custodian promptly if the confirmation differs from your instructions.

Sources & Research Methodology

The two linked self-selected discussions were used as question illustrations; full threads and case outcomes were not independently verified. They illustrate operational questions, not how frequently errors occur or whether any institution acted improperly. Current distribution and correction rules come from IRS and Treasury sources. No tax strategy is recommended solely because a forum participant used it.

Frequently Asked Questions About RMDs

Can I skip an RMD because I do not need the money?

No. Once a distribution is required, financial need does not remove it. The first-year April 1 option changes the deadline rather than eliminating the first RMD.

Can I roll over or convert an RMD?

No. An RMD is not eligible for rollover or Roth conversion. After satisfying it, other eligible amounts may be transferable or convertible under their own rules.

Do Roth IRAs have lifetime RMDs?

No, during the original owner's lifetime. Inherited Roth IRAs can still have beneficiary distribution deadlines.

Can one IRA withdrawal cover all of my retirement accounts?

No. You can generally aggregate your own eligible IRA RMDs after calculating each separately, but an IRA withdrawal does not satisfy a 401(k), 403(b) or another person's RMD. Inherited accounts require separate analysis.

Is the missed-RMD penalty always 25%?

No. The general shortfall tax is 25%, but qualifying correction can reduce it to 10%, and a reasonable-error waiver may be available. The statutory correction window can end earlier than two years. Follow Form 5329 instructions and obtain tax advice promptly.