Turning 73? Should You Delay Your First RMD Until April 1?
If you turn 73 in 2026, you actually have a choice about which tax year your first RMD lands in. For a traditional IRA, this is the one time you will have that choice.
You can take your first Required Minimum Distribution by December 31, 2026. Or, the IRS allows you to delay that first RMD until April 1, 2027. You can read the IRS rules for Required Minimum Distributions here.
You may be tempted to wait until April 1. Waiting can look like the better deal. You get another 3 months before taking money out of your IRA and paying taxes on it.
However, waiting until April doesn't change when your second RMD is due.
That one is still due by December 31, 2027.
So if you wait, you could end up with 2 RMDs in the same tax year.
What happens if you delay your first RMD?
Assume your first RMD is $40,000.
If you take it in 2026, that $40,000 will show up on your 2026 tax return. Then you take your 2027 RMD in 2027.
Now assume you wait until March 2027 to take that first $40,000. You still have another RMD due before December 31. If that one is also around $40,000, you have $80,000 of IRA distributions hitting the same tax year.
If those distributions are fully taxable, which they usually are, that's $80,000 of ordinary income.
The IRS specifically points out that if you wait until the following year for your first RMD, you will generally have 2 required distributions that year. Taking the first RMD during the year you turn 73 allows the distributions to fall into separate tax years. The IRS explains that rule here.
This can make a big difference one way or another.
RMDs can affect more than your income tax bracket
Taxes are rarely just one tax bracket.
An extra $40,000 of ordinary income can push some of your income into a higher federal
bracket. It can also affect how other pieces of your tax return fit together.
For example, if you're selling investments from a taxable account, the additional income can reduce how much room you have for long term capital gains at lower tax rates.
There is also the Net Investment Income Tax. RMDs themselves aren't net investment income. The IRS specifically excludes distributions from IRAs and certain qualified retirement plans from net investment income. However, those distributions can increase your modified adjusted gross income. If that pushes you above the NIIT threshold, more of your interest, dividends, capital gains, or other investment income could become subject to the 3.8% tax.
You can read the IRS explanation of the Net Investment Income Tax here.
One tax decision starts bumping into the next one.
This is one reason I don't look at an RMD by itself.
Then there is Medicare
If you're on Medicare, your 2027 income can also affect what you pay for Medicare later.
Medicare's Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, also known as IRMAA, generally uses income from 2 years earlier when determining whether you owe higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. Social Security explains how income is used for IRMAA here.
That means a large income spike in 2027 could affect your Medicare premiums in 2029.
The exact 2029 IRMAA brackets obviously don't exist yet. So no one today can tell you exactly where those income brackets will fall.
But the mechanism matters.
If delaying your first RMD causes $80,000 instead of $40,000 to show up in 2027, I want to know whether that extra income could eventually cause higher Medicare premiums for you or your spouse.
So should you take your first RMD in 2026?
Probably.
For someone with otherwise similar income in 2026 and 2027, I generally like the idea of spreading the RMDs across 2 tax years.
Take the first one in 2026. Take the next one in 2027. Don't voluntarily pile both into the same year without a reason.
However, there are good reasons to wait.
Maybe 2026 is your final year working and your income is unusually high. You have salary, a bonus, stock compensation, or some other large income item that will stop when you retire.
If your income drops enough in 2027, taking 2 RMDs next year could still produce a better tax result than adding another RMD to an already high income year in 2026.
What I care about is reducing your lifetime tax liability, not just getting your taxes as low as possible in a single year. And certainly not whether April 1 gives you a few more months before you have to take the money.
Look at 2026 and 2027 together
I would make this decision by first putting both years next to each other.
What income will you have in 2026?
What changes in 2027?
How large will the 2 RMDs probably be?
Will you have capital gains, pension income, Social Security, charitable gifts, or other
withdrawals?
Could either year affect Medicare premiums later?
Once those pieces are on the table, the April 1 deadline is just one factor in the decision.
The IRS gives you until April 1, 2027. That doesn't mean April 1 is the date that makes the most sense for you.
Before deciding when to take your first RMD, figure out which tax year you actually want the income to land in.
For some people, delaying will work just fine. For many others, taking the first RMD in 2026 will keep 2 taxable distributions from landing on top of each other in 2027.
Which year do you actually want the income in?
This article is for educational purposes. It is not personalized advice, a recommendation, or an offer. RMD and tax decisions depend on your full plan and current law. Talk with a CFP or CPA before acting.
