--- title: Retirees Can Now Wait an Extra Year Before They Have to Withdraw From Their 401(k)s description: Americans now don't have to start taking required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from certain retirement accounts until they turn 73. authors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-01-09T19:03:12.000Z' modified: '2024-05-17T04:53:14.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 489 canonical: https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Retirees Can Now Wait an Extra Year Before They Have to Withdraw From Their 401(k)s](https://img.money.com/2023/01/News-RMD-Age-Change-Required.jpg?quality=85&w=1012&h=569&crop=1) * * * Attention, savers: Over the holidays, Congress quietly passed new rules that could have a big impact on your retirement. Americans now don't have to start taking required minimum distributions, or RMDs, until they turn 73 — a year later than they previously had to. An [RMD](https://money.com/rmds-taxes-what-is-required-2021/) is the amount you must withdraw from certain retirement accounts every year after a specific age (or retirement). [Per the IRS](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-required-minimum-distributions-rmds), RMD rules apply to account holders and beneficiaries of [401(k)s](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/), 403(b)s, traditional [IRAs](https://money.com/what-is-an-ira/), SEP IRAs, profit-sharing plans and more. These accounts are tax-advantaged, so RMDs are the government's way of finally getting its hands on those funds (and making sure you're not just sheltering them from taxes forever). The change is part of the massive federal spending [package](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117hr2617enr/pdf/BILLS-117hr2617enr.pdf) President Joe Biden signed just before the new year. Several retirement provisions were included in a bill called the SECURE 2.0 Act, which, among other things, also requires employers to automatically enroll eligible workers in their 401(k) and 403(b) plans starting in 2025. The RMD age tweak is actually an extension of a change from [the first SECURE Act](https://money.com/what-serure-act-retirement-law-means-for-you/), which in 2019 raised the age for RMDs from 70 1/2 to 72. In addition to bumping up the age for 2023, the SECURE 2.0 Act also set up a future adjustment: In 2033, the RMD age will increase to 75. Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, [wrote in a blog post](https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/good-bad-and-ugly-retirement-savings-bill-congress-may-ok-week) that the changes are largely expected to benefit wealthy Americans. "Most retirees already withdraw at least their required distribution amounts to pay for normal living costs," he added. "The big beneficiaries of delaying RMDs are the wealthy who do not need [retirement savings](https://money.com/saving-retirement-harder/) to pay expenses or their heirs." RMDs generally have to be taken by April 1 the year after you reach the age in question, with another withdrawal required by Dec. 31. The exact amount of an RMD depends on your own financial situation (and a [bunch of math](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-required-minimum-distributions#:~:text=Generally%2C%20a%20RMD%20is%20calculated,Individual%20Retirement%20Arrangements%20\(IRAs\).)). The withdrawal typically gets included in your income for each year (unless you've already paid taxes on it), meaning it's subject to ordinary taxes at your regular [income tax rate](https://money.com/tax-brackets-2023-inflation/). Failing to take an RMD comes with financial consequences. But the SECURE 2.0 Act changed the policy around that, too. The penalty for not taking an RMD went from a 50% tax on the amount you didn't withdraw to 25%. And it's just 10% if you make the proper withdrawal by the end of the second year you were supposed to. All of this means that you can hang on to more of your [retirement savings](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/) longer — if you can afford to, that is. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Retirees Can Now Wait an Extra Year Before They Have to Withdraw From Their 401(k)s" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/", "name": "Retirees Can Now Wait an Extra Year Before They Have to Withdraw From Their 401(k)s", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-01-09T19:03:12.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/rmd-age-change-2023/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-17T04:53:14.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Retirees Can Now Wait an Extra Year Before They Have to Withdraw From Their 401(k)s", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/01/News-RMD-Age-Change-Required.jpg?quality=85", "width": 2880, "height": 1920 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. 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