At what age do RMDs start?

Age 73 if you were born before 1960, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, per SECURE 2.0. Your first RMD is for the year you reach that age, and only that first one can be postponed to April 1 of the following year. Every RMD after it is due by December 31.

Should I delay my first RMD until April 1?

Usually not. The delay does not cancel the first RMD; it stacks it onto the second one in the same tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket. It helps mainly when your first RMD year carries unusually high income, like a final year of salary, and the next year is much leaner.

Which accounts have RMDs and which are exempt?

Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and pre-tax 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) money all require RMDs. Roth IRAs never require lifetime withdrawals, and designated Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts stopped requiring them in 2024. Beneficiaries who inherit any account follow separate rules.

What happens if I miss an RMD?

The IRS charges a 25 percent excise tax on the amount you should have withdrawn but did not, reduced to 10 percent if you correct the miss within two years. On a $18,868 missed RMD, that is up to $4,717. File Form 5329, take the late withdrawal, and document the correction.

Do I have to spend my RMD?

No. The rule forces the withdrawal and the tax, not the spending. You can move the money straight into a taxable brokerage account and keep it invested. If you give to charity anyway, a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA counts toward the RMD without ever joining your taxable income.

Can I take my RMD monthly instead of all at once?

Yes. Any schedule works as long as the full amount is out by the deadline. The $18,867.92 first-year figure in our example is $1,572.33 a month. Monthly withdrawals mimic a paycheck; a December lump sum keeps money invested longer but risks a year-end scramble.

Your First RMD: The April 1 Trap and the IRS's Rising Withdrawal Schedule

By Sam Sage Last updated July 2026 5 min read

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TL;DR

A required minimum distribution is last year's December 31 retirement balance divided by an IRS life-expectancy factor. At age 73 the factor is 26.5, so a $500,000 balance requires $18,867.92 in 2026, about 3.8 percent. RMDs begin the year you turn 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, and only the first one can be delayed until April 1 of the next year. That delay is usually a trap: the second RMD is still due by December 31, so two withdrawals stack into one tax year. Miss an RMD and the IRS charges a 25 percent excise tax on the shortfall, cut to 10 percent if corrected within two years. Roth IRAs and, since 2024, designated Roth 401(k) accounts have no lifetime RMDs. The required share of your balance rises every year, from 3.77 percent at 73 to 8.2 percent at 90, per the Uniform Lifetime Table.

Your first required minimum distribution is last year’s December 31 retirement balance divided by an IRS factor for your age. At 73 the factor is 26.5, so a $500,000 balance requires $18,867.92 in 2026, about 3.8 percent. RMDs begin at 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later.

The rules carry real money on both edges. Miss the withdrawal and the IRS charges a 25 percent excise tax on the shortfall. Take the tempting April 1 extension on your first RMD and you can accidentally double your taxable income the following year.

After decades of being told to leave retirement money alone, a rule that forces it out feels backwards, and the anxiety usually comes from the deadlines rather than the math. The math is one division. Here is the whole system, worked with 2026 numbers.

When does your first RMD arrive?

The year you reach 73 if you were born before 1960, and the year you reach 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, under SECURE 2.0. Someone born in 1953 turns 73 in 2026, so 2026 is their first RMD year; someone born in 1960 waits until 2035.

Two deadlines then apply for the rest of your life. The first RMD may be postponed to April 1 of the following year, once, as a grace period. Every RMD after it is due by December 31 of its own year. The grace period looks like a gift and usually is not, for reasons the trap section below makes concrete.

How do you calculate an RMD?

One division, two lookups. The balance comes from last December 31; the factor comes from the Uniform Lifetime Table in Publication 590-B, which applies to most owners (a separate table gives larger allowances when your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger).

How to calculate your RMD

Add up last year's ending balances.Total your traditional IRA, SEP, SIMPLE, and pre-tax 401(k) and 403(b) balances as of December 31 of last year. Roth IRAs are excluded, and since 2024 designated Roth 401(k) accounts are too.
Look up your factor.Find the distribution period for the age you reach this year in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Publication 590-B, Table III). At 73 the factor is 26.5; at 80 it is 20.2.
Divide the balance by the factor.A $500,000 balance at age 73 divided by 26.5 is $18,867.92 for 2026, about 3.8 percent of the account. That is the minimum to withdraw, not a ceiling.
Repeat with new numbers every year.Each year uses a fresh ending balance and a smaller factor, so the required share rises with age. The deadline is December 31, except the very first RMD, which can wait until April 1 of the following year.

Our RMD calculator runs this lookup from just your birth year and balance, flags your first RMD year, and shows the monthly equivalent if you prefer taking it as income.

What is the April 1 trap?

The postponement moves your first RMD into the next tax year without moving the second one, so both land together. Take the born-in-1953 saver with $500,000. Option one: withdraw $18,867.92 during 2026. Option two: postpone to April 1, 2027, and then owe the 2027 RMD (the new balance divided by 25.5, which is $19,607.84 if the balance holds at $500,000) by December 31, 2027. Result: about $38,476 of forced taxable income in 2027 instead of two years splitting it.

Stacked income is taxed at your top layers, as our marginal-rate explainer shows, and it can also raise Medicare premium surcharges down the line. The postponement earns its keep in one situation: a first RMD year with unusually high income, like final-year salary or a big asset sale, followed by a leaner year. Then shifting the RMD into the lean year genuinely helps. Otherwise, take the first one in its own year.

Assumptions in the worked example

Engine-computed from the Uniform Lifetime Table: $500,000 divided by 26.5 at age 73, then 25.5 at 74. The 2027 figure holds the balance flat at $500,000 for clarity; a real balance would move with markets and the withdrawal itself. Both RMDs are ordinary taxable income.

Why do RMDs grow every year?

Because the divisor shrinks faster than most balances do. The table is a rising drawdown schedule by design: the required share roughly quadruples between 73 and 100.

The Uniform Lifetime Table as a withdrawal schedule. The required share of the balance climbs from 3.77 percent at 73 to 15.63 percent at 100 as the divisor falls from 26.5 to 6.4.

In dollars, on a steady $500,000 balance, the engine’s figures run $18,867.92 at 73, $24,752.48 at 80, and $40,983.61 at 90. This is why RMDs eventually outrun many retirees’ actual spending: the schedule accelerates while spending often flattens. Planning for the 80s tax bill starts in the 60s, which is the point of the next section.

What if you do not need the money?

You have three honest moves, and none involves skipping the withdrawal.

Reinvest it. The rule forces the tax, not the spending; the after-tax proceeds can go straight into a taxable brokerage account and stay invested.

Give it, if you give anyway. A qualified charitable distribution sends IRA money directly to charity, counts toward your RMD, and never touches your taxable income, which beats withdrawing and then donating.

Shrink the future base before RMDs start. Roth conversions in the gap years between retiring and your first RMD move money out of the pre-tax pile at rates you choose, and Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs. Conversions raise income in the year you make them, so this is a bracket-management project, not a free lunch; the Roth vs traditional calculator frames the now-versus-later comparison. An RMD itself can never be converted.

Mistakes that cost real money

Aggregating the wrong accounts. IRA RMDs can be pooled: calculate each, then withdraw the total from any one IRA. Every 401(k) is on its own; each plan must pay out its own RMD. Pooling across types is how people miss one.

Taking the April 1 offer by default. It reads as extra time and acts as income stacking. Decide by comparing this year’s bracket against next year’s, not by deadline preference.

Forgetting the balance date. The RMD divides last December 31’s balance, not today’s. A market drop this year does not lower this year’s RMD; it lowers next year’s.

Treating inherited accounts the same way. Beneficiaries follow different rules, often a 10-year clock, and a Roth IRA that has no RMD for its owner does have distribution rules for heirs. This page covers your own accounts only.

Your first-RMD checklist

You know your start age (73, or 75 if born in 1960 or later) and your first RMD year.
You have last December 31’s total across every pre-tax account, with 401(k)s listed separately.
You made the April 1 decision on brackets, not on procrastination.
If you do not need the income, you picked a destination: taxable reinvestment, a qualified charitable distribution, or a conversion plan for the years before RMDs begin.

The bottom line

An RMD is one division with expensive deadlines. Put your birth year and balance into the RMD calculator to get your 2026 figure, your factor, and your first-RMD year, then calendar the December 31 deadline and let the account do the rest.

This is educational information, not tax advice. Ages, factors, and penalty rates on this page are the 2026 rules; the IRS revises the tables and thresholds, so verify current figures at irs.gov before acting.

Try the calculator RMD CalculatorCalculate your 2026 required minimum distribution from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, with the SECURE 2.0 start ages (73, or 75 if born 1960 or later).

Frequently asked questions

At what age do RMDs start?: Age 73 if you were born before 1960, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, per SECURE 2.0. Your first RMD is for the year you reach that age, and only that first one can be postponed to April 1 of the following year. Every RMD after it is due by December 31.
Should I delay my first RMD until April 1?: Usually not. The delay does not cancel the first RMD; it stacks it onto the second one in the same tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket. It helps mainly when your first RMD year carries unusually high income, like a final year of salary, and the next year is much leaner.
Which accounts have RMDs and which are exempt?: Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and pre-tax 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) money all require RMDs. Roth IRAs never require lifetime withdrawals, and designated Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts stopped requiring them in 2024. Beneficiaries who inherit any account follow separate rules.
What happens if I miss an RMD?: The IRS charges a 25 percent excise tax on the amount you should have withdrawn but did not, reduced to 10 percent if you correct the miss within two years. On a $18,868 missed RMD, that is up to $4,717. File Form 5329, take the late withdrawal, and document the correction.
Do I have to spend my RMD?: No. The rule forces the withdrawal and the tax, not the spending. You can move the money straight into a taxable brokerage account and keep it invested. If you give to charity anyway, a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA counts toward the RMD without ever joining your taxable income.
Can I take my RMD monthly instead of all at once?: Yes. Any schedule works as long as the full amount is out by the deadline. The $18,867.92 first-year figure in our example is $1,572.33 a month. Monthly withdrawals mimic a paycheck; a December lump sum keeps money invested longer but risks a year-end scramble.

Sources

Written by

Sam Sage

Founder, FinExplained

Sam Sage is an individual investor with more than 20 years of hands-on experience, managing a long-term, buy-and-hold portfolio and running an options wheel strategy of cash-secured puts and covered calls. Sam Sage is not a licensed financial advisor; FinExplained is educational content, not personalized advice.

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