RMD Start Ages: 73 and 75

SECURE 2.0 raised the required minimum distribution (RMD) beginning age in stages. Many owners now start at 73; some later birth cohorts start at 75. Your plan custodian’s mailed notice is useful, but the statute and IRS life-expectancy tables control — especially if you have multiple IRAs that must be aggregated for the calculation even when you withdraw from only one account.

For tax year 2026, the practical workflow is unchanged: take the prior December 31 account balance, divide by the IRS table factor for your age, and withdraw at least that amount by the deadline for the distribution year (with special first-year timing rules that can push the initial RMD into the following April).

Which table?

Most owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table. A spouse beneficiary who is more than ten years younger uses a joint life table instead. Inherited IRAs follow post-SECURE Act rules that often require emptying the account within a ten-year window, with different RMD patterns for eligible designated beneficiaries. Mixing those regimes is a common software error.

Missed RMDs and Roth conversions

Failing to take a required amount can trigger an excise tax on the shortfall (the rate has been reduced in recent law relative to the old 50% penalty, but it is still expensive). Corrective distributions and IRS procedures exist — do not ignore a missed year.

Roth conversions before RMDs begin can shrink future taxable balances, but conversions themselves raise MAGI and can affect IRMAA and premium tax credits two years later. Model both sides with the RMD calculator and the Roth conversion calculator before you treat a conversion as free planning.

Workplace plans may allow delaying RMDs while you still work (with ownership caveats). IRAs generally do not get that still-working exception. Confirm plan documents rather than assuming IRA and 401(k) timing match.