Once you turn 73, you're no longer in complete control of when you take money out of your retirement accounts. You have to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from select accounts, and you usually have to pay taxes on that money, too.
Skipping your RMDs results in a costly 25% penalty, so it's important not to miss your deadline. This might leave you wondering whether it's worth getting it out of the way now. It could be, but it depends a lot on what's most important to you.
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Should you take your RMD right now?
Most people have until Dec. 31 of the year in question to take their RMDs, so you still have plenty of time to take your 2026 RMD. However, those who turned 73 last year actually have until April 1, 2026 to take their 2025 RMD. If you're in this group and haven't done this yet, you should absolutely take your RMD in March. Act as quickly as possible.
If this doesn't apply to you, you have to think about what matters most to you. If you're worried you'll forget to take your RMD if you don't take it soon, it might be wise to get it out of the way now.
The downside to doing this is that you'll miss out on the investment earnings you may have gotten throughout the rest of 2026. But this isn't guaranteed. If your investments decline over the coming months, you might be glad you got your RMD out of the way earlier.
If you want the best of both worlds, you can divide your RMD by the number of months remaining in the year. Withdraw a little each month until you've taken it all.
How to calculate your RMD
To calculate your RMD, you need to know your retirement account balance as of Dec. 31 of the previous year. For 2026, that's Dec. 31, 2025. Check with your plan administrator if you're not sure what this was.
Divide your account balance by the distribution period next to your name in the IRS' Uniform Lifetime Table. For example, if you have $100,000 in a traditional IRA and you're 75, you'd divide $100,000 by 24.6 to get an RMD of about $4,065 from that account.
Keep in mind that you aren't required to take RMDs from Roth accounts, like Roth IRAs or 401(k)s. You also don't have to take RMDs from your current 401(k) if you're still working and own less than 5% of the company.
