Required Minimum Distributions: A 2026 Guide

If you have money in a traditional IRA or a workplace retirement plan, the IRS eventually requires you to start taking money out. Those withdrawals are called required minimum distributions, or RMDs. They are taxed as ordinary income, and missing one carries a penalty, so every year-end is a deadline for retirees. This guide explains the age rules, the calculation, the exceptions and the strategies. The RMD calculator does the arithmetic. This guide is general information, so confirm your own amount with your custodian or a tax professional.

When do RMDs start?

Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the starting age is 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959 and 75 for those born in 1960 or later. You must take your first RMD for the year you reach that age, but you can delay it until April 1 of the following year. Every later RMD is due by December 31. The delay trap is that waiting means taking two distributions in one calendar year, which may push you into a higher bracket. Many people prefer to take the first one in the year they turn the required age.

Which accounts have RMDs?

• Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs.
• 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans, including old employer plans.
• Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts no longer have lifetime RMDs, starting in 2024.
• Roth IRAs never require distributions during the owner’s life.

If you are still working and do not own 5% or more of the company, your current employer’s plan may let you delay RMDs from that plan until you retire. The exception does not apply to IRAs or to plans from previous employers.

How to calculate your RMD

Divide your account balance on December 31 of the prior year by a distribution period from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, using the age you reach during the distribution year. For example, if you turn 75 in 2026 and your IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025, the factor is 24.6, so the RMD is $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325. The factor drops as you age. At 80 it is 20.2, and at 90 it is 12.2, so the required percentage rises from about 3.8% at 73 to about 8.2% at 90.

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account and is more than 10 years younger than you, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor table, which gives a smaller RMD. Different rules apply to inherited accounts, where most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account by the end of the tenth year after the owner’s death, and some must also take annual RMDs. Check the IRS rules or ask your custodian.

Combining accounts

You calculate the RMD separately for each IRA, but you can add the totals and take the sum from any one or more IRAs. The same aggregation works for 403(b) accounts among themselves. It does not work across account types: IRA RMDs cannot be satisfied from a 401(k), and each 401(k) must be satisfied from itself. A common simplification is to roll old 401(k)s into one IRA, which reduces the number of accounts to track.

The penalty

If you take too little, the IRS can charge an excise tax of 25% of the shortfall. If you correct it within two years, the rate drops to 10%. If the mistake was due to reasonable cause, you can ask the IRS to waive the penalty by filing Form 5329 with a letter of explanation. For a $20,000 RMD where you withdrew only $5,000, the shortfall is $15,000, and the tax would be $3,750 at 25%, so deadlines matter. Custodians can be slow at year-end, so submit requests early in December.

Strategies to consider

Qualified charitable distributions

If you are 70½ or older and charitably inclined, a QCD sends money directly from an IRA to a charity. It counts toward your RMD but is not included in your taxable income. For 2026, the limit is $111,000 per person. It lowers AGI, which can help with Medicare premiums, taxable Social Security and the new senior deduction phase-out. See the charitable giving guide.

Taking it early or late

You can take your RMD at any time during the year, in one payment or several. Taking it early means you have less time in the market, and taking it in December leaves you exposed to administrative errors. Some retirees set a monthly withdrawal that covers the amount over the year.

Withholding

Tax withheld from an RMD in December is treated as if paid evenly through the year, so if you have underpaid your estimated taxes, a larger withholding in your last distribution can fix it.

Roth conversions before RMD age

Between retirement and RMD age, many retirees have lower income. Converting some pre-tax money to a Roth IRA during those years can shrink the future RMDs. The Roth conversion guide discusses it. Remember that you cannot convert your RMD itself; the required amount must be taken out first, and only then can additional amounts be converted.

Common RMD mistakes

• Using the wrong balance. The calculation uses the December 31 value of the previous year, not today’s balance.
• Using the wrong age. The factor is based on the age you will reach by the end of the distribution year, even if your birthday is in December.
• Assuming one account can satisfy all others. Only IRAs can be combined with IRAs, and 403(b)s with 403(b)s.
• Taking a QCD after the RMD. A QCD only reduces taxable income if it is made directly from the IRA to the charity and is counted as part of the required amount for the year; if you take the full RMD to your bank first, you cannot treat part of it as a QCD afterward.
• Not updating beneficiaries. This is not an RMD rule, but retirees reviewing accounts in December should confirm beneficiary designations, which decide how heirs are taxed.

What if I have already taken money out?

Any withdrawal in the year counts toward the RMD, as long as it comes from the right account. Distributions that are rollovers do not count, and neither do conversions. Check your statements for the total taken so far.

A December checklist

1. Get year-end 2025 balances for each account.
2. Calculate each RMD with the right factor.
3. Subtract what you have taken so far.
4. Decide whether part of the remainder should go to charity as a QCD.
5. Submit the request to your custodian by early December.
6. Choose the withholding and confirm the funds arrive before December 31.

Your custodian will report your RMD on Form 5498 in the following year, and the distribution will appear on Form 1099-R.