Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Once you reach a certain age, the IRS requires you to start withdrawing a minimum amount each year from your Traditional (pre-tax) accounts — so that money it never taxed eventually gets taxed. These Required Minimum Distributions can reshape your retirement tax picture, and RetireRange models them automatically.
When RMDs start
Under the SECURE Act 2.0, your RMD age depends on your birth year, and RetireRange applies the right age to each person:
- Born 1959 or earlier → age 73
- Born 1960 or later → age 75
(Those born in 1950 or earlier reached RMD age under the older rules and are already taking distributions.) Both ages are shown on the Reference Data tab and are maintained centrally, so if the law changes again it can be updated without a software release.
Which accounts are subject to RMDs
| Account | RMDs? |
|---|---|
| Traditional 401(k) | Yes |
| Traditional IRA | Yes |
| Roth 401(k) | No |
| Roth IRA | No (in the owner’s lifetime) |
| Taxable, VEBA, HSA | No |
RMDs are tracked per person and per account, based on each owner’s age.
How the amount is calculated
Each year, for each applicable account:
RMD = the account’s prior-year-end balance ÷ a distribution period from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.
The distribution period shrinks as you age, so the required fraction rises over time (a 75-year-old withdraws roughly 4%, and it climbs from there).
How RMDs interact with your plan
- If your planned withdrawals already meet or exceed the RMD, it’s satisfied automatically — no extra forced withdrawal.
- If your withdrawals fall short, RetireRange forces the difference out — spread evenly across the year (RMD smoothing is always on; there’s no December lump and no toggle).
- Forced distributions are taxable income, which can push you into higher brackets and — two years later — into higher IRMAA Medicare tiers.
- If a forced RMD is more than you need to spend, the excess is reinvested into a Taxable account (one you own, if possible) rather than vanishing — so keep a Taxable account in your plan for it to land in. Without one, the distribution is still taxed but the leftover isn’t tracked in your legacy.
The planning angle
Because RMDs can force a wave of taxable income later, many people convert Traditional savings to Roth in the lower-income years before RMDs begin, shrinking future RMDs and the taxes they trigger. See Roth conversions, and watch the RMD projection chart in Understanding your results to see when your forced withdrawals ramp up.