We think of our retirement savings as our money, but it's usually not wholly within our control. The IRS limits your access to these funds while you're under 59 1/2, and once you turn 73, it actually forces you to start taking money out each year. These are known as required minimum distributions (RMDs).
Sometimes, they're not a big deal. You may already have withdrawn more than enough to cover living expenses. But at other times, you may be forced to take out more than you need, which can lead to a much bigger tax bill. If you're worried about this with your 2026 RMDs, a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) could be right for you.
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How required minimum distributions (RMDs) work
You'll need to take RMDs from all tax-deferred retirement accounts, except your current 401(k), if you're still working and own less than 5% of the company. The amount you must withdraw depends on your age and your account balance as of Dec. 31, 2025.
You take that account balance and divide it by the applicable denominator for your age as of Dec. 31, 2026, in the IRS' Uniform Lifetime Table. The result is your RMD. For example, a 75-year-old with a $500,000 IRA would divide $500,000 by the 24.6 applicable denominator for their age to get an RMD of about $20,325.
You're allowed to take out more than this if you need to, but you can't take less. Failure to take your RMD as scheduled results in a 25% penalty on the amount you were supposed to withdraw, but didn't.
How to stop your 2026 RMD from raising your tax bill
A $20,325 RMD, like the one from our example above, could hugely inflate your tax bill and may push you into a higher tax bracket. While there's no way to reduce the amount you legally need to withdraw this year, you can avoid paying taxes on it by doing a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) instead.
This is where you donate your RMD, or a portion of it, to a qualified tax-exempt organization. You can do this on up to $111,000 in RMDs in 2026. It won't help you hold on to your savings, but it fulfills your RMD and helps you avoid the tax increase that comes with your withdrawal.
The catch is, you can't withdraw the money and then donate it to a charity. This won't count as a QCD. You must decide which organization you want to donate to, then direct your retirement account administrator to send the funds to that organization.
You have plenty of time left in 2026 to decide whether this is right for you. Just don't wait until the final weeks of December to start your QCD. The process can take time, so make sure you give yourself a month or two to complete it.
