RMD age by birth year: when required minimum distributions start

Enter your birth date to see the age your required minimum distributions start, which year your first one is for, and the last day to take it.

The rule by birth date

When required minimum distributions start¹
Born	RMDs start at
Before July 1, 1949	70½
July 1, 1949 to December 31, 1950	72
1951 to 1958	73
1959	73 (proposed rule²)
1960 or later	75

These ages come from the final IRS regulations of July 2024, which left people born in 1959 open, and from proposed regulations published the same day that would set 73 for them.¹ As of the date this page was checked, no final rule had replaced the proposal.²

The first deadline

Your first RMD is for the year you reach your starting age. You can take it in that year or by April 1 of the next year. After that, each RMD is due by December 31.³ If you use the April date, you take two RMDs in one tax year: the delayed first one and the second one.

What the tool can't see

Whether you still work. RMDs from your current employer's plan can usually wait until the year you retire, unless you are a 5% owner. IRAs can't wait.⁴
Roth accounts. Roth IRAs and designated Roth accounts in 401(k) and 403(b) plans have no RMDs while the owner is alive.⁵
Inherited accounts. Beneficiaries follow separate rules, not covered here.
The amount. That is last December 31's balance divided by a factor from the IRS life-expectancy tables in Publication 590-B.⁶

Missing an RMD

The shortfall can face a 25% excise tax, cut to 10% if corrected within two years.⁷ The IRS can waive it if the shortfall came from a reasonable error and you are taking reasonable steps to fix it; you ask by filing Form 5329 with a letter of explanation.⁸ The calendar matters more than the arithmetic: put the first deadline in your diary now.

A related date: 70½

Qualified charitable distributions, paid straight from an IRA to a charity, are allowed from age 70½ and can count toward an RMD.⁹ The tool shows your 70½ date too. For 2026 the yearly limit is $111,000¹⁰.

The full background is in required minimum distributions, explained. Your birth date stays in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.

Other tools

Your Medicare sign-up window at 65Enter your birth date to see the seven months when you can first sign up for Medicare Parts A and B, and the date Part B would start for each month.
Part B late-enrollment penalty estimateEstimate the Part B late-enrollment penalty: the months that count, the full 12-month periods, the percentage, and what it adds to the current standard premium.
Full retirement age: your month, and what starting early or late doesEnter your birth date to find your Social Security full retirement age, the month you reach it, the earliest month you can start, and the percentage of your full benefit at every age from 62 to 70.
All your dates on one pageThe planner: every date from 50 to 75, worked out from your birthday, ready to print.

Sources for this page

Age RMDs start, by date of birth. Source: Federal Register, Required Minimum Distributions (final regulations, T.D. 10001), July 19, 2024; Federal Register, Required Minimum Distributions (proposed regulations), July 19, 2024. Checked October 25, 2026.
Born in 1959: 73 under proposed regulations, not yet final. Source: Federal Register, Required Minimum Distributions (proposed regulations), July 19, 2024. Checked October 25, 2026.
First RMD may wait until April 1 of the next year; the second is due December 31 of that year. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
Workplace plans: RMDs can wait until you retire, unless you own 5% of the business. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
No RMDs from Roth IRAs or designated Roth accounts while the owner is alive. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
RMD amount: last December 31 balance divided by an IRS life-expectancy factor. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
Missed RMD: 25% excise tax, 10% if corrected within two years. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
The IRS may waive the missed-RMD tax for reasonable error; ask on Form 5329 with a letter of explanation. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, January 29, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
Qualified charitable distributions from an IRA from age 70½; they can count toward your RMD. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Retirement plans FAQs regarding IRAs: distributions (withdrawals), March 23, 2026. Checked October 25, 2026.
Most you can give from an IRA as qualified charitable distributions in a year. $111,000 (2026). Source: Internal Revenue Service, Notice 2025-67: 2026 amounts relating to retirement plans and IRAs. Checked October 25, 2026.

Every figure on the site, with its source and checked date, is on the sources page.