RMDs start at 73 or 75, depending on your birth year — and the required amount climbs each year. See the formula, IRS tables, and how to shrink it.
Executive Summary: For most people currently reaching retirement age, 73 is the age the IRS requires you to start withdrawing a minimum amount from your 401(k) or IRA every year — called a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). That's the case if you were born between 1951 and 1959. If you were born in 1960 or later, your RMDs won't begin until age 75. This article focuses on the age-73 rule, since it applies to most current retirees. Your first-year RMD is calculated by dividing your account balance from December 31 of the prior year by a life expectancy factor from an IRS table, which comes out to roughly 3.77% of your balance at age 73. That percentage rises every single year you're alive, since the IRS assumes your remaining life expectancy shrinks while your account is expected to keep growing. Strategies like Roth conversions and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) can meaningfully reduce the size of your future RMDs before they start — or offset the tax bill once they do.
At Oak Road Wealth Management, a fee-only fiduciary financial planning firm based in Lee's Summit, Missouri and serving clients nationally, RMD planning is one of the most common conversations we have with clients approaching their 70s. Below, we break down exactly how the calculation works, which IRS table applies to you, and what you can do about it.
Quick note before we dive in: Not everyone's RMDs start at 73. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, your RMD starting age depends on the year you were born:
If you fall into the 1960-or-later group, the math below still applies to you — you'll just use the life expectancy factor for age 75 instead of 73 when your RMDs eventually begin.
At age 73, you're generally required to withdraw about 3.77% of your account balance, based on a life expectancy factor of 26.5 from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. In dollar terms, if your 401(k) or IRA was worth $1,500,000 on December 31 of the prior year, your first RMD would be roughly $56,604.
The formula itself is simple:
RMD = Prior Year-End Account Balance ÷ IRS Life Expectancy Factor
So a $1,500,000 balance divided by the age-73 factor of 26.5 produces an RMD of $56,604 for that year. You have until April 1 of the year following the year you turn 73 to take your very first RMD — but every RMD after that is due by December 31.
One important note: if you delay your first RMD into that following April, you'll owe two RMDs in that same calendar year (the delayed one and the current year's), which can push you into a higher tax bracket. Many people are better off taking the first RMD in the year they turn 73, not the following spring.
There isn't just one RMD table — the IRS actually uses three, and the one that applies to you depends on your situation.
This is the default table almost everyone uses to calculate RMDs from their own 401(k) or IRA. It applies unless your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you and is the sole beneficiary of the account.
If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and is more than 10 years younger than you, you use this table instead. It's a two-dimensional table that factors in both your age and your spouse's age, which produces a longer distribution period — and therefore a smaller required withdrawal — than the Uniform Lifetime Table would.
If you've inherited a 401(k) or IRA rather than saved it yourself, a different set of rules applies. Certain beneficiaries — spouses, minor children, disabled individuals, or beneficiaries less than 10 years younger than the original owner — can stretch distributions using the Single Life Expectancy Table. Most other beneficiaries are instead subject to the 10-year rule under the SECURE Act, which requires the inherited account to be fully depleted within 10 years, with annual RMDs sometimes required along the way depending on whether the original owner had already started RMDs.
The IRS life expectancy factor gets smaller every year you age, which means the percentage of your account you're required to withdraw gets larger every year — even if your balance never changes.
This is often called "RMD creep." Because the required percentage rises steadily while a well-invested account may keep growing too, retirees can find themselves forced to withdraw — and pay tax on — larger and larger sums each year, sometimes more than they actually need to live on. That extra income can also increase Medicare premiums (IRMAA surcharges) and the taxable portion of Social Security benefits.
The good news: you have options, and the earlier you plan, the more effective they tend to be.
Converting a portion of your traditional 401(k) or IRA to a Roth IRA in the years before your RMDs begin permanently shrinks the balance subject to future RMDs, since Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMD requirement for the original owner. You'll owe income tax on the amount converted in the year you convert, but doing this strategically — often in the lower-income years between retirement and age 73 or 75 — can reduce your lifetime tax bill and shrink the RMD percentage creep described above.
If you're charitably inclined, a QCD lets you send money directly from your IRA to a qualified 501(c)(3) charity, and that amount counts toward your RMD without being added to your taxable income. For 2026, individuals can direct up to $111,000 per year this way ($222,000 for a married couple using separate IRAs). Because a QCD is excluded from income entirely — not just deducted — it can also help keep Social Security taxation and Medicare premiums lower than if you'd taken the RMD as cash and donated afterward.
If you're still employed and participate in your current employer's 401(k) — and you don't own 5% or more of the company — you may be able to delay RMDs from that specific plan until you actually retire. This exception does not apply to IRAs or to old 401(k)s from previous employers.
The right combination of these strategies depends on your income, tax bracket, charitable goals, and overall retirement plan. Because RMD rules intersect with tax planning, Social Security timing, and Medicare costs, this is an area where working with a fiduciary advisor — one who's legally required to act in your best interest — can make a meaningful difference.
Oak Road Wealth Management is a fee-only fiduciary financial planning firm based in Lee's Summit, Missouri, serving clients across the country. If you're approaching age 73 and want to build a plan around your RMDs before they start, [reach out to schedule a conversation].
At age 73, you must withdraw at least your prior year-end balance divided by 26.5 (the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor for that age), which works out to roughly 3.77% of your account. For a $1,500,000 balance, that's about $56,604 for the year.
No. Most account owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger than you, you use the Joint and Last Survivor Table instead. If you inherited the account rather than owned it originally, the Single Life Expectancy Table or the SECURE Act's 10-year rule may apply instead.
No. The percentage you're required to withdraw increases every year, rising from about 3.77% at age 73 to roughly 8.2% by age 90, because the IRS life expectancy factor decreases as you age.
The IRS imposes a 25% excise tax on the amount you failed to withdraw, which can be reduced to 10% if you correct the shortfall within two years.
Yes. Roth conversions completed in the years before your RMDs begin can shrink the balance subject to future RMDs, since Roth IRAs carry no lifetime RMD requirement for the original owner.
A QCD is a direct transfer from your IRA to a qualified charity — up to $111,000 per person in 2026 — that counts toward your RMD without being added to your taxable income, which can also help limit Medicare premium increases and Social Security taxation.
It depends on your birth year. If you were born between 1951 and 1959, your RMDs start at age 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, RMDs won't start until age 75, beginning in 2033.
Written by Andrew Matz, Financial Planner at Oak Road Wealth Management.
