Required Minimum Distributions in 2026: When They Start, How They’re Calculated, and How to Avoid Penalties
Required minimum distributions can create an expensive tax problem if a deadline or account is overlooked. For 2026, most retirement account owners who have reached the applicable starting age must withdraw a minimum amount from their tax-deferred accounts. The calculation is usually straightforward, but the rules for first-year deadlines, account aggregation, inherited accounts, and employer plans require careful attention.
This guide explains who must take a required minimum distribution in 2026, how to calculate it, and what to do if a distribution is missed. The information is educational and should not be treated as personalized tax, legal, or investment advice.
What Required Minimum Distributions Are—and Who Must Take Them
A required minimum distribution, or RMD, is the minimum amount the IRS generally requires an account owner to withdraw annually from certain retirement accounts after reaching the applicable starting age. RMD rules prevent funds from remaining indefinitely in accounts that received tax-deferred treatment.
Accounts generally subject to lifetime RMDs include:
- Traditional IRAs
- SEP IRAs
- SIMPLE IRAs
- Traditional 401(k) accounts
- 403(b) accounts
- Profit-sharing plans
- Governmental 457(b) plans
- Other qualified employer-sponsored retirement plans
Roth IRAs generally do not require lifetime distributions from the original owner. Beneficiaries who inherit Roth IRAs may still be subject to post-death distribution rules.
Designated Roth accounts in employer plans—such as Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts—also generally have no lifetime RMDs for the original owner for distributions required for years after 2023. That change took effect in 2024. Inherited designated Roth accounts remain subject to beneficiary rules.
When RMDs Start in 2026
Your RMD starting age depends on your birth year under the SECURE 2.0 Act:
- People born from 1951 through 1959 generally begin RMDs at age 73.
- People born in 1960 or later generally begin RMDs at age 75 under current law.
If you turn 73 during 2026, your first RMD is generally the RMD for the 2026 tax year. You may take it during 2026 or delay it until no later than April 1, 2027.
The April 1 extension applies only to the first RMD. Your 2027 RMD would still be due by December 31, 2027, and subsequent RMDs would generally be due by December 31 of each applicable year.
Why delaying the first RMD can increase taxes
Waiting until early 2027 to take a first-year RMD may result in two taxable distributions during 2027: the delayed 2026 RMD by April 1 and the regular 2027 RMD by December 31.
For example, suppose your first RMD is $20,000 and your second is $21,000. Delaying the first distribution could add $41,000 of retirement-plan income to 2027 instead of spreading the withdrawals over 2026 and 2027. Depending on your other income, that could affect your federal tax bracket, the taxation of Social Security benefits, or future income-related Medicare premiums.
How to Calculate Your 2026 RMD
For most account owners, a 2026 RMD is calculated using the account balance as of December 31, 2025. Divide that balance by the applicable distribution period from the IRS life-expectancy tables.
Prior December 31 account balance ÷ IRS distribution period = annual RMD
Example: $500,000 balance at age 74
Assume you are age 74 in 2026 and had $500,000 in a traditional IRA on December 31, 2025. The Uniform Lifetime Table factor for age 74 is 25.5.
$500,000 ÷ 25.5 = $19,607.84
Your 2026 RMD from that account would be $19,607.84, subject to any applicable adjustments or special rules.
Most account owners use the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. The principal exception is an owner whose spouse is both the sole beneficiary of the account and more than 10 years younger. That owner generally uses the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table, which may produce a smaller required distribution.
Inherited retirement accounts can follow substantially different rules, including the Single Life Expectancy Table, a 10-year distribution deadline, annual beneficiary RMDs, or combinations of these requirements. Do not combine an inherited IRA calculation with an IRA you own personally. Inherited accounts should be reviewed and calculated separately.
Key IRS Distribution Factors for 2026
The following factors come from the Uniform Lifetime Table commonly used by retirement account owners:
| Age | Distribution period | Approximate withdrawal percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | 3.77% |
| 74 | 25.5 | 3.92% |
| 75 | 24.6 | 4.07% |
| 76 | 23.7 | 4.22% |
| 80 | 20.2 | 4.95% |
| 85 | 16.0 | 6.25% |
The distribution factor generally declines as the account owner gets older. As a result, the required withdrawal represents a larger percentage of the account balance over time. The dollar amount does not necessarily rise every year, however, because it also depends on investment performance, contributions, fees, and prior withdrawals.
Use the current tables in IRS Publication 590-B or obtain the applicable factor from your plan administrator. Confirm that you are using the correct table before requesting a distribution.
Which Accounts Can Be Aggregated—and Which Cannot
If you own multiple traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs, you generally calculate the RMD for each IRA separately. You may then add those IRA requirements together and withdraw the total from one IRA or from any combination of your IRAs.
For example, suppose your calculated RMD is $8,000 from IRA A and $4,000 from IRA B. You could generally withdraw the entire $12,000 from IRA A, take $6,000 from each account, or use another allocation totaling at least $12,000.
Employer plans usually require separate handling:
- An RMD from one 401(k) generally cannot satisfy the RMD for another 401(k).
- A 401(k) distribution generally cannot satisfy an IRA RMD.
- RMDs from other qualified employer plans generally must be satisfied according to each plan’s rules.
- Multiple 403(b) accounts have special aggregation rules that may permit the combined requirement to be taken from one or more 403(b) accounts.
Because 403(b) aggregation differs from the rules for 401(k) plans, confirm the procedure with every custodian or plan administrator before moving money.
The still-working exception
Some participants may delay RMDs from a current employer’s retirement plan until retirement if the plan permits the delay and the participant is not treated as a 5% owner. This exception generally does not apply to traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs, and it normally does not cover a plan maintained by a former employer.
Do not assume that continuing to work postpones every RMD. Ask the current plan administrator whether the exception applies and review accounts from former employers separately.
How to Avoid the 2026 RMD Penalty
A reliable RMD process should begin well before the deadline. Financial institutions may experience year-end processing delays, and sales of investments can take time to settle.
- List every retirement account that may be subject to an RMD.
- Record each account’s December 31, 2025 balance.
- Calculate the requirement for each account using the correct table.
- Confirm which accounts can legally be aggregated.
- Schedule distributions before the applicable April 1 or December 31 deadline.
- Keep statements showing the amount and date of each completed withdrawal.
The excise tax on an RMD shortfall is generally 25% of the amount that should have been withdrawn but was not. The tax may be reduced to 10% when the shortfall is corrected during the permitted correction window and the applicable requirements are met.
For example, if an account owner was required to withdraw $20,000 but took only $15,000, the shortfall would be $5,000. The standard 25% excise tax would be $1,250. A qualifying timely correction could reduce the tax to $500.
What to do after discovering a missed RMD
Act promptly rather than waiting for the next scheduled distribution:
- Calculate the exact shortfall.
- Withdraw the missed amount as soon as practical.
- Use IRS Form 5329 to report the missed distribution and applicable excise tax.
- If the failure resulted from reasonable error and reasonable steps are being taken to correct it, follow the Form 5329 instructions for requesting a waiver and provide an explanation.
- Retain calculation worksheets, account statements, and correspondence supporting the correction.
Penalty relief is not automatic. A qualified tax professional can help determine which tax year’s Form 5329 is required and how to document a waiver request.
Taking more than the minimum in one year generally does not create a credit against a future year’s RMD. If your 2026 RMD is $20,000 and you withdraw $30,000, the extra $10,000 ordinarily will not reduce your 2027 requirement.
Tax Planning Moves Before Taking an RMD
RMDs from traditional retirement accounts are generally included in ordinary taxable income, except to the extent a distribution represents after-tax basis or qualifies for another exclusion. The custodian may offer federal or state income-tax withholding, but withholding does not change the gross amount counted toward the RMD.
Compare first-year timing options
If 2026 is your first RMD year, estimate the tax effects of taking the distribution in 2026 versus delaying it until early 2027. Consider expected wages, pensions, Social Security benefits, investment gains, deductions, and the second RMD that would also be due in 2027.
Because Medicare income-related monthly adjustment amounts are based on modified adjusted gross income from an earlier tax year, a two-RMD year may also affect later Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.
Consider a qualified charitable distribution
An eligible IRA owner may be able to make a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, by directing money from an IRA custodian to an eligible charity. A properly completed QCD can count toward an IRA RMD while being excluded from federal taxable income, subject to the annual limit and other IRS requirements.
A QCD generally must be paid directly from the IRA to the eligible organization. A withdrawal paid to the account owner and later donated is not treated as a QCD. QCD treatment is also subject to age, account-type, documentation, and charity-eligibility rules.
Coordinate Roth conversions carefully
Roth conversions are often considered before RMD years begin because they can reduce future tax-deferred balances. However, conversions can still be made during an RMD year. The important restriction is that the year’s RMD generally must be distributed first, and the RMD amount itself cannot be converted to a Roth IRA.
A conversion creates taxable income and may affect tax brackets, Medicare premiums, and other income-based provisions. Model the combined effect before converting a substantial amount.
What to Do Next
- Confirm your RMD starting age using your birth year.
- Identify every IRA and employer plan subject to a 2026 distribution.
- Use each account’s December 31, 2025 balance and the correct IRS factor.
- Verify aggregation and still-working rules with each administrator.
- Select a withdrawal date that leaves time to correct processing problems.
- Estimate federal and state taxes before choosing withholding.
- Review QCDs, first-year timing, and Roth-conversion opportunities where relevant.
- Consult a qualified tax professional for inherited accounts, missed distributions, after-tax basis, or other complex circumstances.
The core 2026 calculation may be simple, but compliance depends on using the correct balance, table, deadline, and account rules. A written account-by-account checklist can prevent an administrative mistake from turning into a significant tax penalty.