IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): The 2026 rules

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are the IRS's way of forcing you to start spending — and paying tax on — your tax-deferred retirement accounts. Roth accounts are exempt during the owner's lifetime. Everything else (Traditional IRA, 401(k), 403(b), inherited IRAs) requires annual withdrawals starting at age 73 or 75 depending on birth year.

The starting age — by birth year

The accounts that require RMDs

• Traditional IRAs (including rollover IRAs)
• SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
• 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) employer plans
• Inherited IRAs (both Traditional and Roth — yes, Roth too if inherited)

NOT required

• Roth IRAs. No lifetime RMDs for the original owner. (Beneficiaries do face RMDs on inherited Roth IRAs.)
• Roth 401(k)s. SECURE 2.0 §325 eliminated Roth 401(k) RMDs starting in 2024. Big change — previously you had to roll Roth 401(k) to Roth IRA at retirement to escape RMDs; now you don't have to.
• HSAs. Never had RMDs.
• Taxable brokerage accounts. Personal money, no rules.
• Working at the company sponsoring your 401(k). If you're still actively employed at 73 (and not a 5%+ owner), you can defer RMDs from that one plan until you leave. Doesn't apply to IRAs.

How the RMD is calculated

RMD = Account balance (prior Dec 31) ÷ IRS life expectancy factor (current age).

Factors come from the Uniform Lifetime Table in IRS Publication 590-B. The table got an update in 2022 (more favorable, longer lives = smaller RMDs). Here are key factors:

Worked example

Mary, age 73 in 2026, has $1,200,000 in Traditional IRA balances as of Dec 31, 2025.

• RMD for 2026 = $1,200,000 ÷ 26.5 = $45,283
• Mary can take this from any one or several of her Traditional IRAs (aggregation allowed).
• She must withdraw at least $45,283 by December 31, 2026.
• The withdrawal is taxed as ordinary income at her marginal federal + state rate.
• For her FIRST RMD only, she can defer to April 1, 2027 — but then she also owes the 2027 RMD by Dec 31, 2027 (two distributions in one tax year).

The aggregation rules

Multiple Traditional IRAs: sum the balances, calculate the total RMD, withdraw the total from any one IRA. The IRS doesn't care which IRA the dollars come from as long as the aggregate total is satisfied.

Multiple 401(k)s: each plan's RMD must come from that specific plan. No aggregation across 401(k)s.

Across plan types: never aggregate. IRA RMDs don't satisfy 401(k) RMDs, and vice versa.

The penalty (and how it dropped)

Pre-SECURE 2.0, missing an RMD cost a 50% excise tax on the shortfall — the harshest penalty in the tax code. SECURE 2.0 §302 cut it to:

• 25% excise tax on the missed amount
• Reduced to 10% if you correct the shortfall within a "correction window" (generally 2 years after the missed RMD year, and before the IRS sends a deficiency notice). Form 5329 must be filed.

How to fix a missed RMD: withdraw the missed amount immediately, file Form 5329 with your tax return for the year you missed, attach a written statement explaining the reasonable cause, and request a penalty waiver. The IRS frequently grants waivers for first-time honest mistakes.

QCDs — the tax-saving move at 70½

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) let IRA owners 70½ and older donate directly from an IRA to a qualified charity, tax-free, up to $108,000/year for 2026(annually indexed; 2025 cap was $105,000, 2026 is one of the new indexed amounts).

• QCDs count toward your RMD requirement for the year (up to the QCD amount).
• The distribution doesn't show up in AGI — much better than taking the RMD and donating it (which inflates AGI and can trigger Medicare IRMAA and other thresholds).
• Must be a direct trustee-to-charity transfer; check-to-yourself doesn't qualify.
• Eligible at age 70½ even though RMDs don't start until 73 — useful gap years.

If you give to charity anyway, QCDs are almost always the most tax-efficient way to do it once you hit 70½. They reduce taxable RMD income dollar-for-dollar.

The inherited-IRA rules (post-SECURE)

The SECURE Act of 2019 eliminated the "stretch IRA" for most non-spouse beneficiaries. If you inherit a Traditional or Roth IRA from someone who died in 2020 or later:

• 10-year rule. Most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the inherited IRA within 10 years of the original owner's death.
• Annual RMDs within the 10 years. If the original owner had already started taking RMDs, the beneficiary must take annual RMDs during the 10-year window AND empty the account by year 10. (This was unclear from 2020–2024; final regs in 2024 confirmed it.)
• Eligible Designated Beneficiaries are exempt from the 10-year rule and can stretch over their life expectancy: surviving spouse, minor children (until majority), disabled or chronically ill, beneficiaries within 10 years of the decedent's age.

Inherited Roth IRAs still face the 10-year empty-out rule, but distributions are usually tax-free (provided the original owner had held the account 5+ years before death).

Strategies to minimize lifetime RMDs

1. Roth conversions in low-bracket years

The window between retirement (~62–65) and RMD age (73–75) is the prime Roth conversion opportunity. You're not yet drawing Social Security, your earned income is zero, and your Traditional IRA balance hasn't started forced RMDs. Converting at 12% or 22% in those years means smaller future RMDs.

2. QCDs after 70½

Already covered. If you give to charity, do it through QCDs once eligible.

3. Working past 73 (where allowed)

If you're still employed at the company sponsoring your 401(k) (and own less than 5%), you can defer RMDs from that one plan until you actually retire. Doesn't apply to IRAs or to your other 401(k)s from previous jobs.

4. Married strategy with younger spouse

If your spouse is more than 10 years younger AND your sole IRA beneficiary, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table (Table II) instead of the Uniform Lifetime Table. The factors are larger, so the RMD percentage is smaller. Niche benefit but real.

What to do this year

1. If you turn 73 in 2026: calculate your RMD using the Dec 31, 2025 balance. Set up the distribution at your brokerage for some time before December 2026.
2. If you have multiple Traditional IRAs: aggregate the balances, withdraw from your highest-cost IRA first (consolidate the better one).
3. If you're charitable: set up QCD direct transfers at age 70½ rather than taking RMDs and donating after-tax.
4. If you're 65–72: seriously consider Roth conversions to shrink future RMDs.

Your brokerage handles the mechanics. Most major brokerages can compute the RMD automatically and set up scheduled distributions:

Set up RMDs at Fidelity → Schwab Vanguard

Related reading

• Roth conversion ladder
• SECURE 2.0 changes 2026
• When to take Social Security
• How much do I need to retire?
• Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA
• Medicare basics 2026