Required minimum distributions never stop. Once you reach the age when RMDs begin, you must take a withdrawal every year for the rest of your life. There is no upper age at which the IRS lets you stop taking them.
RMDs Are a Lifetime Obligation
The IRS requires retirement account owners to start withdrawing minimum amounts annually once they reach age 73. From that point forward, you must take an RMD by December 31 of every year. The IRS puts it plainly: you cannot keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely. Whether you’re 75, 85, or 105, the withdrawals continue as long as you’re alive and the account exists.
This applies to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and most other tax-deferred retirement accounts. The only way RMDs truly end is when the account is fully depleted or the account holder dies (at which point distribution rules shift to the beneficiary).
How the Amount Changes as You Age
Your RMD each year is calculated by dividing your account balance (as of December 31 of the prior year) by a life expectancy factor from IRS tables. As you get older, that life expectancy factor shrinks, which means the percentage of your account you must withdraw actually increases over time. At 73, the divisor is roughly 26.5, so you’re withdrawing about 3.8% of your balance. By 85, the divisor drops to around 16, pushing the withdrawal rate closer to 6.3%. By your mid-90s, you could be required to pull out 10% or more of the remaining balance each year.
This escalating percentage is by design. The IRS wants the money drawn down and taxed during your lifetime, not preserved indefinitely as a tax shelter.
The Still-Working Exception Has Limits
If you’re still employed past age 73, your current employer’s 401(k) may let you delay RMDs from that specific plan until you actually retire. This is sometimes called the “still-working exception.” It only applies to the plan at the company where you’re currently working. It does not apply to IRAs, old 401(k)s from previous employers, or accounts at companies where you no longer work. And once you leave that job, RMDs from that plan must begin, with no age-based cutoff for stopping them afterward.
Roth IRAs Are the Exception
Roth IRAs are the one major retirement account type that does not require distributions during the original owner’s lifetime. If you hold a Roth IRA, you are never required to take RMDs, no matter how old you are. This is one reason Roth conversions are popular in retirement planning: moving money from a traditional IRA into a Roth eliminates future RMD obligations on those funds (though you pay income tax on the converted amount in the year of conversion).
Starting in 2024, Roth 401(k) accounts also became exempt from RMDs during the account owner’s lifetime, thanks to changes from the SECURE 2.0 Act. Previously, Roth 401(k)s were subject to RMDs even though Roth IRAs were not.
What Happens After the Account Holder Dies
When an account holder passes away, RMD rules shift to whoever inherits the account. The timeline depends on when the original owner died and the beneficiary’s relationship to them.
- Spouses have the most flexibility. They can roll the inherited account into their own IRA and follow standard RMD rules based on their own age, or they can use lifetime distribution rules on the inherited account.
- Most other individual beneficiaries who inherited after 2019 must empty the account within 10 years of the original owner’s death. This is the “10-year rule,” and it effectively puts an end date on distributions from that account.
- Eligible designated beneficiaries get an exception to the 10-year rule. This includes the owner’s minor children (until they reach the age of majority), people who are disabled or chronically ill, and individuals not more than 10 years younger than the deceased owner. These beneficiaries can generally stretch distributions over their own lifetime.
- Non-individual beneficiaries like estates or charities typically must distribute the entire account within five years if the owner died before reaching their required beginning date.
The Penalty for Missing an RMD
Because RMDs never stop, the risk of accidentally missing one grows over time, especially for older account holders managing multiple accounts. The penalty for failing to take an RMD used to be 50% of the amount you should have withdrawn. SECURE 2.0 reduced that to 25%, and it drops further to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years. Even at the reduced rate, leaving $20,000 on the table would cost you $5,000 in penalties, so it’s worth setting up automatic distributions or calendar reminders as you age.
The bottom line is straightforward: once RMDs start, they continue every year for life. The only accounts exempt from this rule are Roth IRAs and, as of 2024, Roth 401(k)s. For everything else, plan on annual withdrawals with no finish line.