Congress research arm warns Americans on 401(k), IRA penalty | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

About 3 million Americans are in a milestone year right now that carries with it real financial consequences.

Specifically, that group of Americans is anyone who was born in 1953. Chances are, if you aren’t one of these people, you may well know someone who is.

In 2026, anyone who has already turned 73 or will soon turn 73 reaches the age when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires withdrawals from most tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

“Failure to take all or a portion of the RMD results in a federal income tax penalty equal to a statutory percentage of the amount that should have been distributed,” wrote Elizabeth A. Myers for Congress.gov.

While examining the 2026 Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules, I looked extensively through Myers’ Congressional Research Service (CRS) “In Focus” brief, specifically Product IF12750. As the non-partisan, in-house research arm of Congress, the CRS helpfully explains the rules with an objective, plain language analysis.

To begin, it’s important to note that the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 engineered a multi-year phase-in for retirement changes, including for RMDs. Then we’ll examine when distributions must be taken and how much money is involved.

“The RMD rules discussed in this ‘In Focus’ apply to defined contribution (DC) accounts such as 401(k) accounts and traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs),” Myers wrote. “RMDs do not apply to original owners of Roth IRAs (as contributions to Roth IRAs are made with after-tax income).”

When RMDs must be taken from 401(k)s, IRAs

If you turn 73 in 2026, you must start taking RMDs from your tax‑deferred retirement accounts this year. Your first withdrawal’s specific deadline is no later than April 1, 2027. The IRS calls this the required beginning date (RBD), according to the IRS.

There’s an important catch. Even though your first RMD can be delayed until April 1, you still must take your second RMD by Dec. 31, 2027. That means delaying the first withdrawal could force a person to take two taxable distributions in the same year, which may increase their income and their tax bill, Congress.gov explains.

After that, every RMD must be taken by Dec. 31 each year for as long as one has money in those accounts.

For a little historical context, note that before the SECURE Act, people had to start taking required minimum distributions by April 1 of the year after they turned 70-and-a-half (unless they were still working and had a qualifying defined‑contribution plan).

Under the SECURE Act, anyone who reached age 70-and-a-half after Dec. 31, 2019 followed a rule where the starting age for RMDs was raised to 72.

SECURE 2.0 increased this age twice more as follows (these are what are relevant now and going forward):

to 73 for individuals who turn age 72 after Dec. 31, 2022, and turn age 73 before Jan. 1, 2033; and
to 75 for individuals who turn age 73 after Dec. 31, 2032. (Source: Congress.gov)

The dollar amount of RMDs

So how much of a distribution is required?

“The RMD amount for a year is calculated by dividing (1) the account balance as of Dec. 31 of the previous calendar year by (2) a distribution period outlined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) based on life expectancies,” Congress.gov wrote.

“The IRS publishes tables for account owners, spouses, and beneficiaries. These tables and worksheets for calculating RMDs can be found in IRS Publication 590-B. The tables do not vary based on an account owner’s sex despite differences in life expectancy.”

Required minimum distributions (RMD)s must be taken from 401(k)s and IRAs for anyone turning 73 in 2026.

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Charles Schwab tallies 401(k), IRA RMDs

The tables and worksheets by themselves are complex, but people turning 73 in 2026 can get a simple sense of what to expect regarding RMDs by entering some data into Charles Schwab’s RMD calculator.

So I did precisely that, and came up with 10 caclulations for readers to compare their situations with. For each, I started with a birth date in 1953 (I chose June 30 so it’s directly in the middle of the year, but the date within the year is irrelevant for RMDs). Obviously, anyone still living that was born in 1953 will turn 73 in 2026.

Also for each, I assumed a spouse born before 1964. For a person born in 1953 with a spouse born in 1964 or later, RMDs begin to reduce in size, but that is trivial enough to be irrelevant to this exercise.

A person turning 73 in 2026 will need to take the following required minimum distribution based on these account balances as of Dec. 31, 2025:

An account balance of $30,000 requires a minimum distribution of $1,132.08.
An account balance of $50,000 requires a minimum distribution of $1,886.79.
An account balance of $75,000 requires a minimum distribution of $2,830.19.
An account balance of $100,000 requires a minimum distribution of $3,773.58.
An account balance of $150,000 requires a minimum distribution of $5,660.38.
An account balance of $200,000 requires a minimum distribution of $7,547.17.
An account balance of $350,000 requires a minimum distribution of $13,207.55.
An account balance of $500,000 requires a minimum distribution of $18,867.92.
An account balance of $750,000 requires a minimum distribution of $28,301.89.
An account balance of $1,000,000 requires a minimum distribution of $37,735.85.

AARP also has an RMD calculator that figures out required minimum distributions for 2026 — and for many years going forward — for readers who would find that level of detail useful.