A required minimum distribution is an annual withdrawal from many retirement accounts, calculated from prior year-end value and an IRS life-expectancy factor.
A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount an owner or beneficiary must withdraw from certain U.S. retirement accounts for a calendar year. For an owner, the amount is generally calculated by dividing the prior December 31 account balance by an IRS life-expectancy factor.
An RMD is a minimum, not a recommended spending amount. The owner can withdraw more, but the excess generally cannot be carried forward to reduce a future year’s RMD.
| Account | Original owner’s lifetime treatment |
|---|---|
| Traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA | RMDs generally apply at the applicable age |
| 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), and similar plans | RMDs generally apply, with plan and still-working rules affecting timing |
| Roth IRA | No lifetime RMD for the original owner |
| Designated Roth account in an employer plan | No lifetime RMD for the participant under current rules |
| Inherited retirement account | Beneficiary distribution rules apply even when the original owner had no lifetime RMD |
Roth treatment does not eliminate post-death distribution requirements. An inherited Roth IRA can still be subject to a ten-year or life-expectancy payout rule.
The applicable RMD age has changed several times. Many people currently beginning RMDs use age 73. SECURE 2.0 provides age 75 for later cohorts beginning in 2033. Older owners may remain subject to prior starting ages because the law in effect when they reached the threshold still controls.
The first RMD is for the year the owner reaches the applicable age. It can generally be delayed until April 1 of the following year. Every later RMD is due by December 31 of its calendar year.
Delaying the first payment does not postpone the second. An owner who takes the first RMD by April 1 must still take the second by December 31 of the same year. Combining two distributions can increase taxable income and affect other income-sensitive items.
Employer plans can permit a participant who is still working to delay plan RMDs until retirement, subject to plan terms and exceptions such as the rule for certain owners. The still-working exception does not apply to IRAs.
Because date-of-birth transitions are technical, the applicable age and deadline should be confirmed with current IRS guidance rather than inferred from a single generic age.
The general owner formula is:
RMD = prior December 31 adjusted account balance ÷ applicable distribution period
The IRS publishes three principal life-expectancy tables:
The relevant factor changes from year to year. Account adjustments can also be required for outstanding rollovers or transfers not reflected in the prior year-end balance.
Assume an owner’s traditional IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31 of the prior year and the applicable IRS factor for the current year is 24.6.
$500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20
The current-year RMD is approximately $20,325.20. The owner can take it in one payment or installments by the deadline. If the account earns or loses money during the year, the already calculated RMD generally does not change because it uses the prior year-end balance.
The factor is illustrative. The correct table, age, spouse status, beneficiary status, and adjusted balance must be verified for the actual year.
An owner must calculate the RMD separately for each traditional IRA. The owner can generally take the combined traditional IRA RMD from one or more of those IRAs. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs are included in the IRA aggregation framework.
Employer plans generally cannot be combined with IRAs for this purpose. A 401(k) RMD generally must be satisfied from that 401(k), and separate employer plans generally require separate distributions. Special aggregation rules can apply to 403(b) accounts.
Taking a large distribution from one IRA does not automatically satisfy an unrelated employer plan’s RMD. Custodian calculations can help, but the account owner remains responsible for the correct total and deadline.
Traditional retirement-account RMDs are generally taxable as ordinary income except to the extent they represent documented after-tax basis or another nontaxable amount. A distribution can also have state tax consequences and can affect income-sensitive deductions, credits, premiums, and benefits.
Federal withholding can be elected or required depending on the account and payment method, but withholding does not change the gross RMD amount. The distribution counts when paid, not when the tax return is filed.
An RMD is not an eligible rollover distribution. Depositing it into an IRA can create an excess contribution rather than undoing the distribution. An owner who wants a Roth conversion must first satisfy the year’s RMD when one is due; the RMD itself cannot be converted.
Beneficiary rules are not determined by the beneficiary’s age alone. The analysis starts with:
Under current rules, a non-eligible designated beneficiary subject to the ten-year rule must empty the account by the end of year ten. If the owner died on or after the required beginning date, annual beneficiary distributions can also be required during that ten-year period. This is why “empty it by year ten” is not always permission to wait until the final year.
See Inherited IRA for the beneficiary categories and choices.
An undistributed RMD can trigger a federal excise tax. Under current law the tax is generally 25% of the shortfall and can be reduced to 10% when corrected within the applicable correction period. Form 5329 is used to report the shortfall, and a waiver can sometimes be requested for reasonable error when corrective steps are taken.
The correction rules are technical. A missed distribution should be addressed promptly rather than combined casually with the next year’s withdrawal.
RMD rules change and can create significant tax consequences. This article is educational and is not individualized tax, legal, estate-planning, retirement, or investment advice.