RMD Age Changes Under SECURE 2.0: What Pre-Retirees Need to Know

If you are somewhere between 60 and 72, the rules governing when the IRS forces money out of your retirement accounts just changed in your favor. SECURE 2.0, signed into law in December 2022, moved the Required Minimum Distribution starting age from 72 to 73 immediately, and schedules another move to 75 in 2033. That sounds simple. The planning implications are not.

What SECURE 2.0 Actually Changed, and When

Before SECURE 2.0, the original SECURE Act (2019) had already pushed the RMD age from 70½ to 72. SECURE 2.0 continued that trajectory in two steps.

The first step was immediate. If you turned 72 after December 31, 2022, your RMD start date moved to 73. If you had already turned 72 in 2022 or earlier, nothing changed for you. The law did not reach back.

The second step happens on January 1, 2033. Anyone who turns 74 on or after that date will not face RMDs until age 75. In practice, that means people born in 1959 or later will benefit from the 75-year-old threshold.

One thing that tripped up some clients and even some advisors early on: people born in 1951 faced a brief ambiguity about whether their starting age was 72 or 73 because of how the transition year played out. The IRS clarified in Notice 2023-75 that those individuals' required beginning date is April 1 of the year after they turn 73.

SECURE 2.0 also reduced the penalty for a missed or short RMD. The old excise tax was 50 percent of the amount you should have withdrawn. That figure, which was one of the harshest penalties in the tax code, dropped to 25 percent. If you correct the missed RMD within a two-year correction window, the penalty falls further to 10 percent. This does not mean ignoring RMDs is acceptable strategy, but it does mean an honest mistake is less catastrophic to fix.

The Roth 401(k) Change That Often Gets Overlooked

Before 2024, Roth 401(k) accounts were subject to lifetime RMDs, which was a structural quirk that made Roth 401(k)s slightly less attractive than Roth IRAs. SECURE 2.0 eliminated that rule entirely. Starting January 1, 2024, designated Roth accounts inside 401(k) and 403(b) plans no longer generate lifetime RMDs.

The practical effect is significant if your employer plan has a strong Roth 401(k) option. Money in that account can now compound tax-free without a mandatory distribution forcing it out, which aligns Roth 401(k)s with the long-standing treatment of Roth IRAs. If you are still working and contributing to a Roth 401(k), this rule change makes that account more powerful than it was two years ago.

How a Longer RMD-Free Window Changes Roth Conversion Planning

This is where the SECURE 2.0 changes matter most to someone currently in their 60s. In my work with pre-retirees, the years between retirement and the first RMD are often the most valuable Roth conversion years a person will ever have. Income tends to drop after leaving work, bracket space opens up, and Social Security may not have started yet. That window used to close at 72. It now runs to 73, and eventually to 75.

Think about what one or two additional years of conversion opportunity can mean. A 63-year-old who plans to retire at 65 and delay Social Security to 70 already has a five-year window. Under the old rules, RMDs would compress that window at the back end. Under the current rules, they have until 73. If they were born after 1958, they have until 75. The compounding on dollars converted earlier, in lower brackets, inside a Roth account that faces no future RMD, is material.

I had a client (this is an illustrative scenario, not an identified individual) who assumed the Roth conversion conversation was only relevant in his late 60s. When we mapped out the full picture, including the delayed RMD start, the Social Security gap years, and the Roth 401(k) balance that no longer carried a distribution requirement, the case for converting a meaningful portion of his traditional IRA in years 63 through 68 became the clearest planning priority in the entire plan. This lives squarely in the Soil layer of the Sporos Doctrine, where tax architecture decisions are made before income starts flowing.

When This Applies and When It Does Not

The delayed RMD age helps you most if you have substantial traditional IRA or 401(k) balances and some flexibility in your income during the pre-RMD years. The longer the runway before distributions are mandatory, the more room you have to convert strategically.

It matters less if your income will remain high through your late 60s and early 70s, say, because of deferred compensation, rental income, or a pension that fills your lower brackets. In that case the window exists on paper but the tax math does not support aggressive conversions. Every situation is different.

The change also does not help inherited IRA beneficiaries. The 10-year rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries under SECURE 1.0 still applies, and the RMD age for the original account holder is irrelevant once the account passes to a beneficiary. That is a separate planning problem covered in the parent pillar on RMDs and QCDs.

How This Connects to RMDs and QCDs

The RMD age changes are one piece of a larger framework. The parent pillar, "RMDs and QCDs: The Required-Distribution Rules That Shape Retirement Income After 73," covers how RMDs are calculated using the Uniform Lifetime Table, how Qualified Charitable Distributions allow charitably-minded retirees to send up to $105,000 (2025 figure, indexed for inflation) directly to charity and avoid ordinary income on that amount, and how the inherited IRA 10-year rule creates urgency for beneficiaries. The SECURE 2.0 age changes make sense only when you understand the full distribution picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I turned 72 in 2022, did my RMD age change?

No. The transition rules are age-based. If you turned 72 on or before December 31, 2022, your required beginning date was April 1, 2023, unchanged by SECURE 2.0. The new 73-year-old threshold applied only to those who turned 72 after that date.

Does delaying RMDs to 73 mean I should always wait until then to take distributions?

Not necessarily. Waiting for the IRS to force distributions is not the same as optimizing distributions. Many pre-retirees benefit from taking voluntary withdrawals or doing Roth conversions before 73 precisely because those distributions are not yet required and they control the timing and amount.

What is the penalty now if I miss an RMD?

The excise tax is 25 percent of the amount you should have withdrawn. If you correct the shortfall within a two-year correction window and file Form 5329, the penalty drops to 10 percent. The old 50 percent rate no longer applies.

Does the Roth 401(k) RMD elimination apply retroactively?

It applies to distributions required after December 31, 2023. There is no retroactive recapture of prior distributions, but any Roth 401(k) balance you hold today is no longer subject to a lifetime RMD going forward.

I was born in 1960. What is my RMD starting age?

Age 75. You fall within the group that benefits from the second SECURE 2.0 threshold, which applies to anyone who turns 74 on or after January 1, 2033.

Should I roll my Roth 401(k) into a Roth IRA to avoid RMDs?

For tax years before 2024, that rollover made sense specifically to avoid the Roth 401(k) RMD rule. Starting in 2024, both accounts treat lifetime RMDs the same way. The decision to roll over now turns on investment options, fees, and whether you need creditor protection, not RMDs.

What to Do Next

1. Confirm your birth year against the applicable RMD threshold (73 if born 1951-1958, 75 if born 1959 or later) and calculate how many low-income years you have before distributions become mandatory.
2. Map your estimated income by year through age 75, including Social Security start date, pension income, and any deferred compensation, so you can identify which years have open bracket space for Roth conversions.
3. If you hold a Roth 401(k), verify with your plan administrator that the account is no longer subject to lifetime RMD requirements under the post-2023 rules.
4. Review the full RMD framework, including QCD rules and the inherited IRA 10-year rule, on the parent pillar at /strategies/rmds-and-qcds before making distribution decisions.

The information provided is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. Tax law changes frequently — verify current rules before acting. Consult with qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.