What Age Do RMDs Start Under SECURE 2.0?

A Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) is the amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from tax-deferred retirement accounts such as traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and similar plans. The goal is to ensure that money that grew tax-deferred eventually gets taxed. Roth IRAs have no RMDs during the owner's lifetime.

Two acts of Congress moved the starting line. There is no single RMD age anymore — your start age depends on when you were born:

The first two rows are why "born 1950 or earlier → 72" is too coarse to be right. SECURE Act §114(d) applies the age-72 rule only to individuals who attain age 70½ after December 31, 2019. You attain 70½ six calendar months after your 70th birthday, so someone born June 30, 1949 hit 70½ on December 30, 2019 — one day too early — and stayed on the old rule, while someone born July 1, 1949 hit it on January 1, 2020 and moved to 72. Birth year 1949 therefore straddles the two regimes, and a calculator that knows only your birth year cannot resolve which side of June 30 you fall on. The tool above says so explicitly rather than guessing.

When Is Your First RMD Actually Due?

Reaching your start age does not mean the deadline is December 31 of that same year — at least not for your very first distribution. The IRS allows a one-time delay: you can postpone your first RMD until April 1 of the year after you reach your start age. This date is called your required beginning date.

Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of its own year. So if you delay the first one to April 1, you end up taking two RMDs in the same calendar year — the delayed first by April 1 and the second by December 31. Stacking two distributions into a single year can push your income into a higher tax bracket, raise the taxable share of Social Security, or move you into a higher IRMAA tier two years later. For that reason, many people simply take the first RMD in the year they reach start age rather than delaying it.

The calculator above shows both the calendar year you reach your start age and the latest possible first-RMD deadline so you can weigh the trade-off.

How the RMD Amount Is Calculated

Your RMD equals your prior year-end account balance divided by a life-expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. The factor falls as you age, so the required withdrawal percentage rises over time. Here are the factors and the implied first-year withdrawal rate for the most common start ages:

Worked example: Someone born in 1960 has a start age of 75 and reaches it in 2035. If a $500,000 balance grows 5% per year from age 66 (in 2026) to age 75, it reaches about $775,664. Dividing by the age-75 factor of 24.6 gives a first RMD of roughly $31,531 — an effective first-year withdrawal rate of about 4.07%. A fuller factor table for every age appears on the RMD table for 2026 page.

The Still-Working Exception

If you are still employed past your RMD start age, one exception may apply. IRC §401(a)(9)(C)(i)(II) sets the required beginning date for an employer plan at April 1 following the later of the year you reach your applicable age or the year you retire. So as long as you are not a 5% or greater owner of the business (§401(a)(9)(C)(ii)(I)), the still-working exception generally lets you delay RMDs from your current employer's 401(k) until the year you retire. The plan has to offer it — it is permitted, not mandated.

This exception is narrow. It does not apply to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, or 401(k) plans left behind at former employers. Those accounts must still begin distributions at your start age, working or not. Some savers roll an old 401(k) into their current plan before their start age specifically to keep more of their balance under the still-working umbrella, though a rollover has its own trade-offs worth modeling first.

Why Your RMD Start Age Matters for Taxes

The later start age under SECURE 2.0 is a gift and a trap at the same time. The gift: more years of tax-deferred growth before withdrawals are forced. The trap: a larger balance at start age means a larger first RMD, which lands on top of Social Security, pensions, and any other income — potentially in a higher bracket and a higher Medicare premium tier.

The years before your start age are the planning window. Because RMDs are based on your balance, anything that shrinks the pre-tax balance ahead of time — Roth conversions, qualified charitable distributions, or earlier voluntary withdrawals — reduces every future RMD. A Roth conversion ladder in particular moves dollars out of the RMD base and into a tax-free account, lowering required withdrawals for the rest of your life. Larger RMDs can also lift your income into IRMAA surcharge territory, adding Medicare premiums on top of the income tax.

Seeing the full picture — balance growth, the first RMD, the bracket it lands in, and the Medicare surcharge two years later — is exactly what a full retirement model is for.

What age do RMDs start in 2026?

Your Required Minimum Distribution start age depends on when you were born. If you were born on or before June 30, 1949, your RMDs began at age 70½ under the rules that preceded the SECURE Act. If you were born from July 1, 1949 through December 31, 1950, your start age is 72. If you were born from 1951 through 1959, your start age is 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, your start age is 75. There is no single RMD age that applies to everyone in 2026 — your date of birth determines which rule applies to you.

Did SECURE 2.0 change the RMD age?

Yes. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 raised the Required Minimum Distribution start age from 72 to 73 for those born from 1951 through 1959, and to 75 for those born in 1960 or later. The original SECURE Act of 2019 (section 114) had already moved the age from 70½ to 72, but only for individuals who reach age 70½ after December 31, 2019 — that is, those born on or after July 1, 1949. Anyone born on or before June 30, 1949 stayed on the age-70½ rule. So the full ladder is 70½, 72, 73, or 75 depending on your date of birth.

When is my first RMD actually due?

You can delay your very first RMD until April 1 of the year after you reach your start age. This is called the required beginning date. Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of its own year. Delaying the first RMD means two distributions land in the same calendar year — your delayed first RMD by April 1 and your second RMD by December 31 — which can push you into a higher tax bracket or a higher IRMAA tier. Many people take the first RMD in the year they reach start age to avoid stacking two in one year.

Can I delay RMDs if I'm still working?

Sometimes, but only for an employer plan. If you are still working past your RMD start age and you are not a 5% or greater owner of the business, the still-working exception generally lets you delay RMDs from your current employer's 401(k) until you retire. This exception does not apply to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, or old 401(k) plans from former employers — those RMDs must still begin at your start age regardless of whether you are working.

How is the RMD amount calculated?

Your RMD equals your prior year-end account balance divided by a life-expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table for your age. For example, the factor at age 75 is 24.6, so a $775,664 balance produces a first RMD of about $31,531 ($775,664 divided by 24.6), an effective withdrawal rate of roughly 4.07%. The factor decreases with age, so the required percentage rises each year. This calculator estimates your first RMD using these published factors.