Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Rules, Deadlines and How to Calculate Yours

Short answer: A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the smallest amount the IRS says you must withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a set age. For most people retiring now, that age is 73. You find your RMD by dividing the account’s balance on December 31 of the previous year by a life expectancy factor from an IRS table. If you take out too little, the shortfall can face a 25% excise tax, cut to 10% if you fix it in time.

This article is for general education only and is not financial or tax advice. RMD rules have changed several times in recent years and your situation is unique. Check the official IRS sources linked below, and consider talking to a qualified tax professional before you make withdrawal decisions.

What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?

Traditional retirement accounts let your savings grow without yearly tax, and many contributions are made before tax. The government does not let that deferral last forever. In the words of the IRS’s Retirement Topics page on RMDs, “you cannot keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely.” Once you reach the RMD age, you must withdraw at least a minimum amount every year, and that money is generally added to your taxable income.

A few basics apply to everyone:

• You can always take more than the minimum. The RMD is a minimum, not a ceiling.
• RMDs are generally taxed as ordinary income, except for any part that was already taxed (your basis, such as nondeductible IRA contributions) or that qualifies as a tax-free Roth distribution.
• RMDs cannot be rolled over into another tax-deferred account, according to the IRS RMD FAQs.
• Extra withdrawals don’t carry forward. Taking more than your RMD this year does not reduce next year’s requirement.

Which Accounts Have RMDs?

According to the IRS, the RMD rules apply to:

• Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SARSEPs
• 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans
• Profit-sharing plans and other defined contribution plans
• Inherited accounts, including inherited Roth IRAs (beneficiaries have their own rules, covered below)

Roth accounts are the big exception. Roth IRAs, and designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b), have no RMDs while the original owner is alive. That is one reason people compare the two account types carefully; our article on Roth IRA vs traditional IRA covers the trade-offs.

When Do RMDs Start?

The starting age depends on when you were born, because Congress raised it twice. The SECURE Act moved it from 70½ to 72, and the SECURE 2.0 Act moved it again. Under the final IRS regulations published in July 2024:

• Age 73 applies to people who reach 72 after December 31, 2022, and 73 before January 1, 2033. This covers most people taking their first RMD today.
• Age 75 applies to people born on or after January 1, 1960.

The first-year deadline (and the double-RMD trap)

For IRAs, your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you reach your RMD age. Every RMD after that is due by December 31. So if you turn 73 in 2026, your 2026 RMD can wait until April 1, 2027, but your 2027 RMD is still due by December 31, 2027.

Delaying the first one means taking two RMDs in the same tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket. The IRS notes that you can take your first withdrawal by December 31 of the year you reach RMD age instead, so the two distributions land in separate tax years.

Still working? The 401(k) exception

If you are still employed, many workplace plans let you delay RMDs from that employer’s plan until April 1 after the year you retire. This exception does not apply if you own 5% or more of the business, and it never applies to IRAs. A traditional IRA owner must start at the RMD age even if still working. Plan rules can also require earlier distributions, so check your plan documents. Our guide to how a 401(k) works explains how these plans are set up.

How to Calculate Your RMD

The formula is straightforward:

RMD = account balance on December 31 of last year ÷ distribution period (life expectancy factor)

The factor comes from one of three tables in IRS Publication 590-B:

• Table III (Uniform Lifetime): used by most account owners. That means unmarried owners, married owners whose spouse is not more than 10 years younger, and owners whose spouse is not the sole beneficiary.
• Table II (Joint and Last Survivor): used when your spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger. It produces a smaller RMD.
• Table I (Single Life Expectancy): used by beneficiaries of inherited accounts.

Here are the first few Uniform Lifetime Table factors from the current Publication 590-B:

A worked example

Suppose (hypothetically) Linda turns 75 in 2026, is unmarried and has a traditional IRA worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025. Her 2026 RMD is $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20, due by December 31, 2026. If she had turned 73 in 2026 instead, the factor would be 26.5 and her RMD would be about $18,867.92, with the option to delay that first one until April 1, 2027.

Because the factor shrinks every year, the share of your balance you must withdraw rises with age: about 3.8% at 73, about 5% at 80 and about 8.2% at 90.

Multiple Accounts: Where You Can Withdraw From

The aggregation rules trip up a lot of retirees. The IRS RMD FAQs explain:

• IRAs: calculate the RMD separately for each IRA, but you can withdraw the total from any one IRA or a mix of them.
• 403(b) contracts: same idea. Calculate each separately, then take the total from one or more 403(b)s.
• 401(k) and 457(b) plans: each plan’s RMD must come out of that plan. You cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD with an IRA withdrawal, or the other way round.

Your custodian or plan administrator may calculate the figure for you, but the IRS is clear that the account owner is ultimately responsible for taking the correct amount.

What Happens If You Miss an RMD?

If you don’t withdraw the full amount on time, the shortfall may be subject to a 25% excise tax. That drops to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years. You report it on Form 5329 with your federal return.

The IRS can also waive the penalty if the shortfall was due to reasonable error and you are taking reasonable steps to fix it. To ask for this, file Form 5329 with a letter of explanation, as described in the IRS FAQs. In practice, the best fix is to take the missed amount as soon as you notice.

Ways to Manage RMDs and Their Tax Bill

Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs)

If you are at least 70½, you can have your IRA trustee send money directly to an eligible charity. A QCD counts toward your RMD and is excluded from your taxable income. According to Publication 590-B, the maximum annual exclusion was $108,000 for 2025, and the publication’s 2026 worksheet uses a limit of $111,000. You can’t also claim a charitable deduction for the same money. This can matter more than a deduction for retirees who take the standard deduction; see standard deduction vs itemized deductions for why.

Timing and withholding

You can take your RMD in one lump sum or in installments through the year, as long as the total is out by the deadline. Many custodians let you set up automatic distributions and withhold federal income tax from each payment, which can reduce the need for quarterly estimated payments.

Planning before RMDs begin

Some people draw down traditional accounts, or convert part of them to Roth, in lower-income years before RMDs start. Whether that helps depends on your current and future tax brackets.

RMDs on Inherited Accounts

Beneficiaries face their own rules. For owners who died after December 31, 2019, most beneficiaries must empty the inherited account by the end of the 10th year after the year of death. The IRS lists the “eligible designated beneficiaries” who can still stretch withdrawals over their life expectancy:

• A surviving spouse
• The owner’s minor child (until they reach the age of majority)
• A disabled or chronically ill person
• Someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner

Under the final regulations, which apply from 2025, there is a further detail. If the original owner died on or after their required beginning date, a beneficiary on the 10-year rule generally has to take annual RMDs in years one to nine as well, not just empty the account by year 10. Inherited Roth IRAs are also subject to beneficiary RMD rules. Publication 590-B has the full details and worksheets.

Is There an RMD Rule in the UK?

No. UK personal and workplace defined contribution pensions don’t force you to start withdrawing at a set age. When and how you access your pot depends on your scheme’s rules, and according to gov.uk the earliest age is usually 55. You can usually take up to 25% of each pension as a tax-free lump sum, up to a maximum of £268,275 unless you hold a protected allowance. The rest is taxed as income when you withdraw it, and you generally pay no tax if your total income stays below the Personal Allowance, usually £12,570.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to spend my RMD?

No. You must withdraw it and pay any tax due, but you can save or invest the money in a regular taxable account. You can’t put it back into a tax-deferred retirement account as a rollover.

Do Roth IRAs have required minimum distributions?

Not while the original owner is alive, and the same goes for designated Roth accounts in 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Beneficiaries who inherit Roth accounts do have RMD rules.

What balance do I use to calculate my RMD?

Use the account’s fair market value on December 31 of the year before the distribution year. Your custodian normally reports this figure to you early in the year.

Can I take my RMD from just one account?

For IRAs, yes. Add up the RMDs for all your IRAs and take the total from any one or more of them. The same applies among 403(b) contracts. But 401(k) and 457(b) RMDs must be taken separately from each plan.

If I turn 73 this year, when is my first RMD due?

By April 1 of next year. For someone turning 73 in 2026, that’s April 1, 2027. The second RMD is due by December 31, 2027. Taking the first one by December 31, 2026 avoids doubling up in one tax year.

The Bottom Line

RMDs are the point where the tax-deferral deal on traditional retirement accounts comes due. Know your starting age (73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later) and use the right IRS table. Remember the December 31 deadline, and plan for the first-year April 1 option and its double-RMD trap. Tools such as QCDs and spreading withdrawals across the year can help manage the tax bill, and checking your figures against IRS Publication 590-B each year helps you avoid the 25% excise tax.

Sources: Internal Revenue Service (Retirement Topics: RMDs, RMD FAQs, Publication 590-B, Form 5329), Treasury/IRS final RMD regulations (Federal Register, July 19, 2024) and gov.uk. Information checked November 2026.