Do RMDs Ever Stop? What Happens After They Begin

No, required minimum distributions do not stop during your lifetime. Once RMDs begin on a traditional IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or SEP/SIMPLE IRA, you must take one every year for life, and there is no maximum age. The only real exits are moving money into a Roth account, converting to Roth, giving through qualified charitable distributions, or the account running out.

Required minimum distributions do not stop because they exist to force taxation of money that grew tax deferred. As long as a traditional IRA or 401(k) holds a balance and you are alive, the IRS requires a withdrawal each year based on your age and prior year end account value. No age caps the requirement, and retirement status does not end it.

There is no age at which required minimum distributions end. The SECURE 2.0 Act set the age RMDs begin, not an age they conclude. A 95 year old with a traditional IRA still calculates and withdraws an RMD every year. The percentage of the account you must withdraw rises as you age, but the obligation itself never expires.

Two events naturally end your RMDs: the account runs out of money, or you die. If withdrawals and market losses drain the balance to zero, there is nothing left to distribute. At death your RMD obligation ends for you, but it usually transfers to your beneficiaries, most of whom must empty an inherited account within 10 years under the SECURE Act.

RMDs begin at age 73 for anyone born between 1951 and 1959, and at age 75 for those born in 1960 or later, whose earliest age 75 RMD year is 2035. The SECURE 2.0 Act raised the start age from 72. Your first RMD is calculated using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table and your December 31 balance from the prior year.

Your first RMD has a special deadline: April 1 of the year after you reach your start age. Every RMD after that, including the second one in that same year, is due by December 31. Delaying the first RMD to April 1 stacks two taxable withdrawals into one calendar year, which can push income into a higher bracket.

The legitimate exits from RMDs are structural, not age based: hold Roth IRA money, hold Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b) money, convert traditional dollars to Roth, or use qualified charitable distributions to satisfy the RMD without taxable income. Each changes what type of account the money sits in or where the distribution goes, which is what actually removes the obligation.

A Roth IRA has no required minimum distributions for the original owner. Because contributions were made with after tax dollars, the IRS does not force withdrawals. You can leave a Roth IRA untouched for your entire life. Inherited Roth IRAs still follow the 10 year rule for most non spouse beneficiaries, but the withdrawals are generally tax free.

Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts no longer have lifetime RMDs for 2024 and later. The SECURE 2.0 Act eliminated them. Before this change, owners had to take RMDs from a designated Roth workplace account or roll it into a Roth IRA first. That workaround is gone, which makes a Roth workplace balance a durable exit from the annual requirement.

A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth IRA. Those converted dollars leave the pretax system permanently, so they are removed from all future lifetime RMDs. You pay ordinary income tax on the converted amount in the year you convert, and the move is irreversible, but it can end a recurring obligation on those dollars.

A qualified charitable distribution lets you send money directly from an IRA to a qualified charity to satisfy some or all of your RMD without adding it to taxable income. QCDs are available at age 70.5 or older and can be made only from an IRA, not directly from a 401(k). The transfer counts toward your RMD but stays off your adjusted gross income.

A still-working exception can delay RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) until the year you retire, provided you do not own more than 5% of the business. It applies only to that active workplace plan. It does not apply to IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, or plans left with former employers, all of which still require RMDs at your start age.

If you skip a required minimum distribution, the IRS charges an excise tax on the amount you failed to withdraw. Ignoring an RMD does not end the obligation; it adds a penalty on top of the taxes you still owe when you eventually take the money. The rules changed under SECURE 2.0, so the current penalty is lower than many older articles state.

The penalty for a missed RMD is now 25% of the shortfall, reduced from the old 50% figure that many pages still cite. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, it drops further to 10% if you correct the missed amount within a two year window and file Form 5329. Correcting the shortfall promptly and filing the documentation can qualify you for the lower rate.

RMDs do not stop at any age. There is no upper age limit on required minimum distributions. Once you reach your start age (73 for those born 1951 to 1959, or 75 for those born in 1960 or later), you take an RMD from traditional accounts every year for life, no matter how old you become.

No, retiring does not end RMDs. For IRAs, RMDs begin at your start age whether you work or not. For a workplace plan like a 401(k), a still-working exception can delay RMDs until you retire, but once you stop working the annual requirement applies and continues for the rest of your life.

If you miss an RMD, the IRS applies a 25% excise tax on the amount you failed to withdraw. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, that penalty drops to 10% if you correct the shortfall within a two year window and file Form 5329. The old 50% penalty no longer applies.

No. The original owner of a Roth IRA never takes required minimum distributions during their lifetime. Roth IRA balances can stay invested with no forced withdrawals. Inherited Roth IRAs are different: most non spouse beneficiaries must empty the account within 10 years, though those distributions are generally tax free.

No, not for 2024 and later. The SECURE 2.0 Act eliminated lifetime RMDs from Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts starting in 2024. Before that change, Roth 401(k) owners had to take RMDs or roll the balance into a Roth IRA to avoid them. That extra step is no longer required.

Sometimes. A still-working exception lets you delay RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) until you retire, provided you do not own more than 5% of the company. The exception does not apply to IRAs or to plans from former employers, which still require RMDs at your start age.

RMDs stop for you at death, but the obligation usually passes to your beneficiaries. Most non spouse heirs must withdraw the entire inherited account within 10 years under the SECURE Act. A surviving spouse has more options, including treating the IRA as their own and using their own start age.

Common approaches include converting traditional balances to a Roth IRA before your start age, which removes those dollars from all future RMDs, and using qualified charitable distributions to satisfy the RMD without adding taxable income. For a fuller checklist, see our guide on how to reduce required minimum distributions.