Retirement · taxes
A traditional IRA and most pre-tax workplace plans do not let balances sit forever. After a start age set by SECURE 2.0, the IRS requires a minimum withdrawal each year — taxed as ordinary income, whether you needed the cash or not. Roth IRAs (and, after 2023, designated Roth 401(k)s) skip the owner RMD. Everything else in this primer is the table, the calendar, and the two exceptions people mix up: still-working, and QCD.
Updated 2026-09-13 · 11 min read · Educational, not tax advice. Run the RMD calculator with last December 31’s balance. Paid file: QCD / inherited / still-working sequence.
| Birth year | RMD starting age | First RMD year |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 or earlier | 72 (already in progress) | 2022 or earlier |
| 1951–1959 | 73 | The year you turn 73 |
| 1960 or later | 75 | 2035 or later |
SECURE 2.0 raised the age in two steps. If you reach age 72 after December 31, 2022, you generally begin by April 1 of the year after you turn 73. The jump to 75 is for people who turn 73 after December 31, 2032 — in plain English, born 1960 or later. Pub. 590-B still walks the age-73 worksheet because that is who is hitting the table in 2026.
The first RMD may be postponed to April 1 of the year after you reach the start age. Do that and you take two RMDs in one calendar year — this year’s by April 1 and next year’s by December 31. That double year is how people walk into IRMAA and a higher ordinary bracket by accident. Every later RMD is due December 31. There is no April 1 for year two.
Worked slice
Factor 26.5. $800,000 ÷ 26.5 = $30,188.68 (round to $30,189 on a 1040). That is about 3.77% of last year’s balance. You can take more. You cannot take less without a penalty. A $30,189 QCD to a 501(c)(3) can satisfy the whole RMD and never hit MAGI.
The usual “no”
Same $800k on 12/31/2025. Delay the 2026 RMD to April 1, 2027. If 12/31/2026 is $850k (no withdrawal yet, some growth), 2027’s own RMD is $850,000 ÷ 25.5 ≈ $33,333. Calendar year 2027 MAGI from RMDs ≈ $63,522 instead of one $30,189 year. That is the trap, not a bonus.
Each year: take last December 31’s balance, divide by the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for the age you turn this year. Age 73 = 26.5. Age 75 = 24.6. Age 80 = 20.2. Source: 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(c) and Pub. 590-B Appendix B, Table III. A spouse more than 10 years younger who is the sole designated beneficiary uses Table II (joint life) instead — a smaller RMD. Everyone else uses Table III, even with no beneficiary.
| Age this year | Factor | RMD on $500k | Implied % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | $18,868 | 3.77% |
| 74 | 25.5 | $19,608 | 3.92% |
| 75 | 24.6 | $20,325 | 4.07% |
| 80 | 20.2 | $24,752 | 4.95% |
| 85 | 16.0 | $31,250 | 6.25% |
| 90 | 12.2 | $40,984 | 8.20% |
IRA RMDs can be calculated separately then taken from one IRA. 401(k) RMDs generally stay in their own plan — you cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD from an IRA, or vice versa. Custodian letters are a draft. Last year’s Form 5498 / December 31 statement is the input. Run the calculator; the URL is shareable.
The still-working exception can delay RMDs from the current employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) until the year you retire, if the plan allows it and you do not own more than 5% of the company. It does not delay traditional IRA, SEP, or SIMPLE RMDs. It does not delay an old 401(k) sitting at a former employer. Rolling that old plan into the current plan before RMD year can be useful; rolling the other way after RMDs have started does not erase this year’s 401(k) RMD.
A qualified charitable distribution from an IRA after age 70½ can satisfy all or part of the RMD and never hits MAGI — useful if you donate anyway and want to stay under an IRMAA cliff. For 2026 the exclusion is $111,000 per person (IRS Notice 2025-67; 2025 was $108,000). Trustee-to-charity. Not a donor-advised fund, not a private foundation, not a check you deposit first. You cannot QCD from a 401(k) — roll to an IRA in a prior year if that is the plan, and do not skip this year’s 401(k) RMD to do it.
Roth IRAs have no owner RMDs. After SECURE 2.0 §325, designated Roth 401(k)s also dropped lifetime RMDs (Notice 2024-02). Rolling a Roth 401(k) to a Roth IRA is no longer required just to dodge them. Inherited accounts are a different clock.
Miss the deadline and the penalty is 25% of the amount you should have taken (10% if corrected in the IRS window). The expensive move is waiting until December 30, discovering a closed payroll window, and improvising.
Most non-spouse designated beneficiaries must empty the account by the end of the tenth year after death (SECURE Act). If the original owner had already reached their required beginning date, annual RMDs may still apply inside those 10 years — confirm Pub. 590-B and the year-of-death notices; IRS has issued transition relief in some prior years. Spouses can treat the IRA as their own (and then use the owner table at their own start age). Take the decedent’s year-of-death RMD if it was not taken. Eligible designated beneficiaries (disabled, chronically ill, not more than 10 years younger, certain minors) have extra doors. This is a file, not a slogan — the paid sequence is the RMD playbook.
Free tool
Uniform Lifetime Table, IRA vs current 401(k), still-working toggle, QCD against the RMD, April 1 double-year, shareable URL.
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12-step November calendar. Not a restatement of this primer. Withdrawal order lives in the tax-efficient playbook.
Born 1951–1959: 73. Born 1960 or later: 75. Born 1950 or earlier: already started. First RMD can wait until April 1 of the next year; later ones are December 31.
Prior Dec 31 balance ÷ Uniform Lifetime factor for the age you turn this year. Age 73 = 26.5. $800,000 ÷ 26.5 ≈ $30,189. Spouse 10+ years younger and sole beneficiary: Table II.
No, for the original owner. Designated Roth 401(k)/403(b)/457(b) also dropped lifetime RMDs after 2023. Inherited Roths follow beneficiary clocks.
25% of the shortfall, or 10% if you correct it in the IRS window. Set it in November.
Yes, IRA only, age 70½+, 2026 cap $111,000 (Notice 2025-67), trustee-to-charity. Not from a 401(k).
Only the current employer’s plan, if allowed, and you are not a more-than-5% owner. IRAs do not wait.
Usually no. Two RMDs in one calendar year is how MAGI and IRMAA jump.
10-year empty-the-account for most non-spouse beneficiaries. Annual RMDs may still apply if the owner had already started. Spouse can treat as own.
Educational only. Confirm Pub. 590-B, 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9, Notice 2025-67 (QCD), Notice 2024-02 (Roth 401(k)), and the plan document. Written by Thomas Sanders.