Required minimum distributions mark the point where the government stops letting retirement savings grow untaxed and starts forcing money out of traditional accounts. A recent law moved the age at which those withdrawals must begin, and it is scheduled to move again within the decade. For retirees mapping out when to tap an IRA or workplace plan, a shift of a year or two changes both the timing and the tax that comes with it.
What SECURE 2.0 changed about the required beginning date
For years the trigger for mandatory withdrawals was 70½, then 72. The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed into law at the end of 2022, raised it again. The IRS now sets the age to begin required minimum distributions at 73 for owners of traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and most employer plans such as 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. The change did not end there. The same statute sets the age to rise to 75 beginning in 2033.
The dividing line is date of birth. A saver who reaches 74 after December 31, 2032 falls under the age-75 threshold, which in practice covers people born in 1960 or later. Those born between 1951 and 1959 remain on the age-73 schedule. The staged increase means two retirees only a year apart in age can face different starting dates for the same kind of account.
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How the first mandatory withdrawal is timed
The first distribution does not have to come out in the year an account owner turns 73. It can be delayed until April 1 of the following year, a date the IRS calls the required beginning date. That grace period carries a trap: delaying the first withdrawal pushes it into the same calendar year as the second one, because every later distribution must be taken by December 31. Two taxable withdrawals landing in one year can inflate income enough to raise a tax bracket, add tax on Social Security benefits, or lift Medicare premiums. The IRS spells out the timing and the calculation in its distribution FAQs.
The penalty for skipping a distribution
Missing a required withdrawal once carried one of the harshest penalties in the tax code, an excise tax equal to half of the amount that should have been taken. SECURE 2.0 cut that penalty to 25 percent, and to 10 percent when the shortfall is corrected within a set window and the missed amount is withdrawn. The reduction lowers the stakes of an honest mistake, but the tax still applies to the amount that was owed, and the distribution itself remains taxable once it is made.
Where Roth accounts sit in the rules
Roth IRAs stand apart. Because contributions were already taxed, the IRS does not require distributions from a Roth IRA during the original owner’s lifetime, so the rising RMD age is irrelevant to money held there. Designated Roth accounts inside a workplace 401(k) or 403(b) were treated differently until recently, but SECURE 2.0 removed lifetime distribution requirements from those workplace Roth balances as well. Traditional balances in the same plans still fall under the age-73 rule, which is why savers with both types often watch only the pre-tax side of the ledger. Publication 590-B lays out how each account type is handled in its distribution guidance.
Why the moving age matters for tax planning
A later starting age is not automatically a benefit. Every year that a large pre-tax balance sits untouched, it keeps compounding, which means the eventual required withdrawals are calculated against a bigger account and can push taxable income higher later in retirement. Some retirees use the gap between leaving work and the required beginning date to convert portions of a traditional IRA to a Roth, spreading the tax over lower-income years rather than facing a stack of mandatory withdrawals in their mid-seventies. The window to do that widens as the required age climbs toward 75.
The staged schedule also complicates inherited accounts and spousal planning, where the deceased owner’s age relative to the required beginning date determines how quickly a beneficiary must draw the money down. For anyone building a withdrawal plan now, the practical takeaway is that the required starting age is no longer a single fixed number but a moving target keyed to birth year, and the calendar behind it is already written into law through 2033.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire editorial team.
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David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
