The RMD trap at 73: your IRA will decide how much you withdraw

The rule nobody reads until it hits

You've spent decades building tax-deferred accounts: a traditional 401(k), an IRA, maybe a SEP. The deal was you weren't taxed on the money going in. The IRS remembers that deal. Once you reach age 73, it requires you to start taking money out and paying the tax, whether you want to or not.

That's the Required Minimum Distribution, or RMD.

The math is one division

You look up your age on the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, get a number, and divide your December 31 balance by it.

Age 73: divide by 26.5. With a $1 million balance, that's about $37,700 you must withdraw this year.

The percentage climbs every year as you age, because the divisor shrinks. At 80 it's 19.9, so your RMD is over 5% of the balance. At 90 it's 11.7, pushing past 8.5%.

Our RMD calculator has the full 2025 table built in, from age 72 to 114. Type your balance, it gives the number.

The part people get wrong

First date. Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you turn 73. The classic mistake: deferring that first withdrawal to April 1, then being forced to take two distributions in the same tax year, because the next year's RMD is still due by December 31. The math people do this to their own taxes without realizing.

Penalties. Miss an RMD and the IRS wants 25% of the shortfall. Fix it fast and the penalty drops to 10%, but nobody enjoys those odds.

Which accounts. Roth IRAs are exempt for their original owner. Traditional IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLEs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s are not. If you're still working at 73 and the 401(k) is your current employer's, that account can wait. Old accounts, no.

What a little planning does

Two moves soften the RMD tax bite. Convert some traditional money to Roth in your 60s, paying tax at a comfortable rate while it's low, so less sits in the account when the forced distributions start. And take the RMD from your cash-like holdings first, letting the growth assets keep compounding. Both are strategies our Roth vs Traditional tool and the RMD calculator let you model before you commit.