The age at which many Americans must begin taking required minimum distributions from retirement accounts is set to rise again under SECURE 2.0, moving to 75 in 2033 for savers who fall into the later birth cohorts covered by the law. The shift extends the window for tax-deferred growth and gives retirees more control over when they begin pulling taxable income from traditional retirement accounts. That extra flexibility is one reason the rule has drawn so much attention from financial planners and retirement savers alike. For households that do not need withdrawals right away, two additional years can create more room for Roth conversions, charitable giving strategies, or simply letting balances keep compounding. At the same time, delaying distributions does not eliminate taxes. It pushes them further into the future, and in some cases it can make future withdrawals larger.
What SECURE 2.0 changed
The required minimum distribution, or RMD, age has been moving upward in stages. Before the original SECURE Act, many retirees had to begin withdrawals at age 70 1/2. That law raised the threshold to 72. SECURE 2.0 increased it again to 73, and then set a further increase to 75 beginning in 2033. The statutory language appears in Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which contains SECURE 2.0. The IRS later incorporated those changes into its final RMD regulations published in July 2024. In that rulemaking, Treasury and the IRS said the applicable age is 73 for people born from 1951 through 1958 and 75 for people born on or after January 1, 1960. The same Federal Register document also notes a drafting ambiguity in the statute for people born in 1959, which is why broad shorthand about everyone “born after 1959” can be misleading.
Who will actually start at 75
For readers trying to pin down the practical takeaway, the cleanest way to state the rule is this: the age-75 start date is intended for retirees who are born in 1960 or later, with the transition to that higher threshold beginning in 2033. The IRS currently tells account owners that RMDs generally begin at 73 under today’s rules, but its published regulations already map out the move to age 75 for the post-1959 group covered by the later phase-in. The agency’s RMD FAQ page explains the current age-73 framework, while the 2024 rulemaking fills in the later age-75 structure.Birth cohort RMD starting age under current IRS framework 1951 through 1958 73 1959 Special transition ambiguity noted by IRS 1960 or later 75
That distinction matters because retirement headlines often compress a complicated legal timeline into a single sentence. For a general audience, “RMD age rises to 75 in 2033” is directionally right. For a publishable article, it needs the added precision that the later threshold is tied to the birth-year schedule the IRS laid out after SECURE 2.0 became law.
Which accounts are affected
RMD rules apply to traditional IRAs and to most tax-deferred workplace retirement accounts, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and similar arrangements. The IRS says account owners generally must withdraw minimum amounts each year once they reach the applicable age, and the first distribution can usually be delayed until April 1 of the following year. After that, annual withdrawals typically must be taken by December 31. Not every retirement account is treated the same way. The IRS says RMD rules do not apply during the owner’s lifetime to Roth IRAs or designated Roth accounts. Traditional IRAs do not get a still-working exception, but participants in workplace plans can sometimes delay RMDs until retirement if they are not 5 percent owners of the sponsoring business. Those differences can materially affect withdrawal planning for workers who keep a 401(k) active while also holding separate IRA assets.
Why the delay can help retirees
For many savers, the most obvious benefit is time. Two additional years without mandatory withdrawals can allow retirement balances to remain invested and can give households a longer planning runway. That can be especially valuable for retirees who stop working before claiming Social Security, sell a business, or experience a temporary drop in taxable income that makes voluntary withdrawals or Roth conversions more attractive. The delay can also pair well with qualified charitable distributions. Under IRS Publication 590-B, eligible IRA owners can make QCDs beginning at age 70 1/2, and those transfers can count toward an RMD once one is required. In other words, the RMD age may be rising, but some charitable planning opportunities still begin earlier.
Why waiting is not always the best tax move
A later RMD age does not automatically mean a lower lifetime tax bill. Because required withdrawals are based in part on the prior year-end balance, delaying distributions can leave retirees with larger account values by the time withdrawals finally become mandatory. That can translate into larger annual taxable payouts later in life. Those higher withdrawals can have ripple effects. They can increase taxable income, change how much of Social Security benefits are exposed to federal tax, and in some cases push retirees into income brackets that trigger higher Medicare premiums. For that reason, many advisers view the age-75 rule less as a green light to wait and more as an added planning option. Some retirees will benefit from delaying. Others may still be better off drawing down part of a traditional account before the IRS forces them to do so.
What readers should take away
The headline idea is real: SECURE 2.0 does raise the RMD age to 75 starting in 2033. But the strongest version of this story also tells readers that the rule is tied to specific birth cohorts, not just a broad slogan. The IRS has already signaled that the age-75 threshold applies to people born in 1960 or later, while the 1959 group required extra regulatory attention because of a drafting problem in the statute. That means the change is meaningful, but not quite as simple as many articles make it sound. For savers with substantial traditional retirement balances, the law opens a longer window to manage taxes on their own terms. For everyone else, it is a reminder that RMD policy is no longer static, and that the smartest move may come well before the first mandatory withdrawal is due.
Paul Anderson is a finance writer and editor at The Financial Wire. He has spent seven years writing about investment strategies and the global economy for digital publications across the US and UK. His work focuses on making sense of economic policy, cost-of-living issues, and the stories that affect everyday Americans.
