Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): When, How Much, and How to Lower the Tax

What changes when RMDs are planned before the deadline year?

Before

• RMD age (73 or 75) is a blank until the letter arrives.
• Missed RMDs risk IRS penalties.
• Tax brackets and charitable options are an afterthought.

After

• You know your RMD age and calendar.
• Withdrawals are sized with the rest of taxable income.
• QCDs and timing tools are considered while they still help.

What are the first steps?

Five years before your RMD age:

1. Confirm your RMD age: 73 or 75.
2. List every pre-tax account and its balance.
3. Estimate your first RMD and your tax bracket.
4. Look at Roth conversions in low-income years.
5. Plan QCDs if you give to charity.

When do RMDs start?

Under IRS rules as of 2026, your RMD age is 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later.

Your first RMD can wait until April 1 of the year after you reach that age. But then you take two in one year, which can raise your taxes.

How is my RMD figured?

Take your account balance on December 31 of last year. Divide it by the IRS life-expectancy factor for your age. The percentage rises as you get older.

Which accounts have RMDs?

Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans. Roth IRAs have no RMDs for the original owner. Since 2024, Roth 401(k)s and Roth 403(b)s don't either (IRS).

If you're still working and don't own 5% of the company, your current employer's plan may let you wait until you retire.

What if I miss an RMD?

The penalty is 25% of the amount you should have taken. If you fix it within two years, it drops to 10% (IRS rules as of 2026). Take the missed amount, file Form 5329, and explain what happened.

How can I lower the tax on RMDs?

Plan before they start. Partial Roth conversions in lower-income years, often between retirement and your RMD age, can shrink future RMDs.

Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) after 70½ can send up to $111,000 in 2026 straight from your IRA to charity, tax-free. QCDs also count toward your RMD.

How do RMDs affect Social Security taxes and Medicare?

RMDs add to your income. That can make more of your Social Security taxable. It can also push you into IRMAA, the Medicare surcharge, which for 2026 starts above $109,000 single or $218,000 joint (based on 2024 income).

A large RMD later can cost more than paying some tax sooner.

What happens to RMDs when a spouse dies?

A surviving spouse can treat the IRA as her own, roll it over, or keep it as an inherited IRA. If you're younger than he was, treating it as your own often delays RMDs.

If he had reached his RMD age and hadn't taken that year's RMD, it still has to be taken by the end of the year.

What about inherited IRAs for my children?

Most non-spouse heirs must empty an inherited IRA by the end of the 10th year after the death (IRS rules as of 2026). If you had already started RMDs, they also take yearly amounts. Planning withdrawals across those years can save them tax.

Can I take my RMD monthly or all at once?

Either. You can take it monthly, quarterly, or in one lump, any time in the year. Many people set up monthly withdrawals with tax withheld, like a paycheck.

If you have several IRAs, you can add up their RMDs and take the total from any one of them. Each 401(k) must be handled separately.

Should I withhold taxes from my RMD?

You can, and it's often the easiest way to pay the tax. You can choose how much to withhold.

The IRS treats tax withheld from an IRA as if it were paid evenly through the year. So a December RMD with extra withholding can help cover a shortfall from earlier in the year.

Can I put my RMD into a Roth IRA?

No. An RMD can't be rolled over or converted to a Roth. Take the RMD first. After that, you can convert other IRA money to a Roth in the same year if it fits your tax plan.

Order matters here. Doing it backward can create a tax mess to clean up.

Education, not advice. Every family is different. Talk with your own tax, legal, and financial professionals before you act. Figures are 2026 amounts from the official sources below and can change.