Last Updated: May 2026

What Is an RMD? Age, Rules, and Deadlines for 2026

Required minimum distributions explained in plain English — when they start, which accounts they hit, what they cost in tax, and how to reduce them.

A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS forces you to withdraw each year from tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a specified age. You deducted the contributions and the growth was never taxed, so the RMD rules exist to make sure that tax is eventually collected rather than deferred forever.

The rules changed twice in five years. This page reflects the current framework under SECURE 2.0 for the 2026 distribution year, including the age-73 start, the April 1 first-year deadline, and the 25% penalty.

What Age Do RMDs Start?

Your birth year determines your starting age. SECURE 2.0 moved the threshold from 72 to 73 in 2023 and schedules a further move to 75 in 2033.

If you were born	RMDs begin at age	Notes
1950 or earlier	72 (or 70½ under prior law)	RMDs already in progress
1951 – 1959	73	Current SECURE 2.0 threshold
1960 or later	75	Applies beginning in 2033

How to Calculate Your RMD in Four Steps

1. Get the prior-year balance. For a 2026 RMD, use the fair market value of the account on December 31, 2025. Not today's balance — the IRS is explicit about this, and using the current balance is the most common self-calculation error.

2. Determine your 2026 age. Use the age you will reach at any point during 2026. If your birthday is in December, you still use the older age for the whole year.

3. Find your divisor. Look that age up on the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. Age 73 is 26.5, age 80 is 20.2, age 90 is 12.2.

4. Divide. Balance ÷ divisor = RMD. A $600,000 balance at age 76 uses 23.7, producing $25,316. Do this separately for each account you own.

Deadlines and the Double-RMD Trap

Your first RMD has a special deadline: April 1 of the year after you turn 73. Every RMD after that is due December 31. That extra grace period sounds generous, and it is a trap.

If you turn 73 in 2026 and delay your first RMD to March 2027, you must still take your 2027 RMD by December 31, 2027. Two distributions land in one tax year. On typical balances that can push you into a higher bracket, increase the taxable share of your Social Security, and trigger an IRMAA surcharge on Medicare premiums two years later. Taking the first RMD by December 31 of the first year avoids all of it.

Aggregation rules also differ by account type. IRA RMDs are calculated per account but can be withdrawn from any one IRA in total. 401(k) RMDs cannot be aggregated — each plan must distribute its own.

Which Accounts Require RMDs

RMDs required

Traditional IRA
SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA
401(k) and 403(b) plans
Most governmental 457(b) plans
Profit-sharing and defined contribution plans
All inherited accounts, including inherited Roth IRAs

No lifetime RMDs

Roth IRA — never, during the owner's lifetime
Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) — exempt since 2024 under SECURE 2.0
Current employer's 401(k) if you are still working and own 5% or less
Taxable brokerage accounts — never subject to RMD rules

Four Ways to Reduce Future RMDs

Roth conversions before 73. Converted dollars leave the RMD base permanently. You pay tax at today's rate instead of a possibly higher future one, and Roth IRAs never require distributions. Model the trade-off here.

Qualified Charitable Distributions. From age 70½ you can send up to $108,000 per year in 2026 directly from an IRA to a qualified charity. It satisfies the RMD and never appears in adjusted gross income — better than taking the distribution and claiming a deduction.

Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts. Up to $210,000 of IRA value can be moved into a QLAC, removing it from the RMD calculation until payments begin as late as age 85.

Spend tax-deferred money first. Drawing from Traditional accounts in your 60s, before Social Security and before RMDs, shrinks the balance the divisor will eventually be applied to. Conventional order-of-withdrawal advice often gets this backwards.

Run Your Numbers

Get your exact figure with the 2026 RMD calculator, look up factors on the IRS RMD tables, or handle a beneficiary account with the inherited IRA RMD calculator.

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Frequently Asked Questions

RMD stands for Required Minimum Distribution. It is the minimum amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a specified age. The rule exists because contributions to these accounts were never taxed — RMDs guarantee the government eventually collects income tax on the money rather than allowing it to compound tax-deferred indefinitely and pass to heirs untaxed.

Under SECURE 2.0, RMDs begin at age 73 for anyone born between 1951 and 1959. For those born in 1960 or later, the starting age rises to 75 beginning in 2033. Before the SECURE Act the age was 70½, and it was raised to 72 in 2020 before the current 73 threshold took effect in 2023. Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you turn the applicable age; every subsequent RMD is due December 31.

Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, most 457(b) governmental plans, and profit-sharing plans all require RMDs. Roth IRAs have never required RMDs during the owner's lifetime. Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts were exempted from lifetime RMDs beginning in 2024 under SECURE 2.0 — before that, holders had to roll them into a Roth IRA to avoid distributions. Inherited accounts of every type, including inherited Roth IRAs, have their own separate distribution rules.

First, find your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year — for a 2026 RMD, that is your December 31, 2025 balance. Second, determine the age you will reach during 2026. Third, look up the divisor for that age on the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. Fourth, divide the balance by the divisor. That result is your RMD. Example: a $600,000 balance at age 76 uses a divisor of 23.7, producing an RMD of $25,316. Repeat this for each account you own — 401(k) RMDs must be taken from each plan separately, while IRA RMDs can be aggregated.

Partially. The 'still-working exception' lets you delay RMDs from your current employer's 401(k) or 403(b) if you are still employed and own 5% or less of the company. The exception does not apply to IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, or 401(k) plans from previous employers — those still require distributions at 73 regardless of employment. Some people roll old 401(k) balances into their current employer's plan specifically to use this exception.

Four strategies matter most. Roth conversions before 73 permanently move dollars out of the RMD base — the tax is paid now instead of later. Qualified Charitable Distributions let anyone 70½ or older send up to $108,000 per year in 2026 directly from an IRA to charity, satisfying the RMD without adding to taxable income. Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts can defer up to $210,000 of IRA value to as late as age 85. And simply drawing down tax-deferred accounts in your 60s, before RMDs begin, shrinks the balance the divisor is applied to.

Yes. RMDs from Traditional IRAs and pretax 401(k) accounts are taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate — there is no capital gains treatment. Any nondeductible contributions you previously made, tracked on Form 8606, come out tax-free pro rata. Beyond income tax, RMDs raise your adjusted gross income, which can increase the taxable portion of your Social Security benefits and trigger IRMAA surcharges on Medicare Part B and D premiums two years later. That secondary effect is often larger than retirees expect.

Projections are estimates based on your inputs and assumed rates of return. Actual investment performance, tax rates, and Social Security benefits will differ. This calculator does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified financial advisor for personalized retirement planning.