The Roth series · Required withdrawals · By Rich LoPresti, CFP®
The freight train: what required withdrawals look like when the IRA keeps growing.
Most people picture required minimum distributions as a small annual chore. On a large IRA, they can become one of the biggest income lines in retirement. In the constant-growth examples below, they rise every year; real withdrawals can fall when balances fall. Then one of you files alone.
The short answer. For owners born in 1951–1959, required withdrawals generally begin at 73; for those born in 1960 or later, at 75. Traditional IRAs require withdrawals even if you are still working; an eligible current-employer plan may allow a delay until retirement. The taxable portion is ordinary income whether you need the money or not. The amount generally equals your prior December 31 balance divided by the applicable IRS factor, so the required share rises from about 4% at 75 to about 8% at 90. If the account keeps growing while that's happening, the withdrawals grow with it. In the hypothetical below, $1 million at age 60 turns into required withdrawals of $112K to $170K at 75, and $263K to $603K a year by 90. Taxed on a joint return, that's a large bill. Taxed on a single return, after one spouse is gone, it's a larger one, on the same money.
First, the doubling.
The Rule of 72 is the quickest way I know to see what compounding does. Divide 72 by the growth rate and you get roughly how many years it takes money to double. At 7%, about every ten years. At 10%, about every seven.
So take a hypothetical $1 million at the start of the year the owner turns 60, with nothing added and nothing taken out through the end of the year they turn 74. That is 15 years of growth before the first required withdrawal at 75. The account is entirely pre-tax, and the Uniform Lifetime Table applies:
| Age | At a hypothetical 7% a year | At a hypothetical 10% a year |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | $1.00M | $1.00M |
| 65 | $1.40M | $1.61M |
| 70 | $1.97M | $2.59M |
| 75 | $2.76M | $4.18M |
Hypothetical constant growth rates, chosen because they make the Rule of 72 easy to see. Not a projection of any investment. Real returns vary year to year and are sometimes negative. No fees, taxes or withdrawals before 75.
Nobody gets a smooth 7% or 10%. Real markets have years like 2008 and 2022 in them. The examples show what sustained growth could do, not what markets will deliver.
Then the IRS starts taking its share.
At 75 the required withdrawal is the balance divided by 24.6, about 4.1%. At 80 the divisor is 20.2, about 5%. At 85 it's 16.0, about 6.3%. At 90 it's 12.2, about 8.2%. The required percentage rises as the distribution period shortens. The table does not require the entire account to be emptied during your lifetime.
But if the account keeps growing faster than the withdrawals take out, the dollar amount climbs anyway:
Hypothetical · required withdrawals from $1 million at 60, ages 75 to 90
Every year, a bigger required check.
7% a year 10% a year
Required withdrawals calculated with the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, starting at 75, from the prior year-end balance, with each withdrawal taken at the beginning of the year, before that year’s assumed growth. The balance at 75 is the prior December 31 balance; the balance at 90 is after the age-90 withdrawal and subsequent growth. Hypothetical constant growth; not a projection.
| At 7% | At 10% | |
|---|---|---|
| First required withdrawal, at 75 | $112,156 | $169,807 |
| Required withdrawal at 90 | $262,935 | $602,721 |
| Total required withdrawals, 75 to 90 | $2.91M | $5.64M |
| Still in the IRA at 90 | $3.15M | $7.43M |
That last line is the part people don't expect. After sixteen years of forced withdrawals, the account can be bigger than it was when they started. In both cases the IRA at 90 is larger than it was at 75, and every dollar of it is still pre-tax: the next required withdrawal, and whatever your children inherit, is still taxable income.
I call it the freight train because by the time you can see it, it's hard to get out of the way.
Then one of you files alone.
Here's what makes it a tax bomb rather than a tax bill. Required withdrawals don't care how many people live in the house. In the year one spouse dies, the surviving spouse can generally still file a joint return. Starting the following tax year, the survivor generally files as a single person—unless eligible for another filing status—with most tax brackets about half as wide and half the basic standard deduction. Yet substantial required withdrawals may continue. The survivor’s actual RMD depends on their age, the applicable IRS table and account rules, and the account balance on December 31 of the previous year.
To isolate the filing-status effect, the comparison below deliberately holds the withdrawal and other taxable income equal.
Same withdrawal, same $50,000 of other taxable income (a Social Security check and a small pension, say), two filing statuses:
Tax-law arithmetic · federal income tax, 2026 brackets · hypothetical 7% path
At 7%: the same required withdrawal, joint versus single.
| Age | Required withdrawal | Federal tax, married | Federal tax, survivor | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | $112,156 | $18,014 (22% bracket) | $27,651 (24% bracket) | +$9,637 |
| 80 | $153,073 | $27,016 (22% bracket) | $37,471 (24% bracket) | +$10,455 |
| 85 | $205,103 | $38,693 (24% bracket) | $52,937 (32% bracket) | +$14,244 |
| 90 | $262,935 | $52,572 (24% bracket) | $72,662 (35% bracket) | +$20,089 |
At 10%: the same required withdrawal, joint versus single.
| Age | Required withdrawal | Federal tax, married | Federal tax, survivor | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | $169,807 | $30,698 (22% bracket) | $41,642 (32% bracket) | +$10,945 |
| 80 | $266,119 | $53,337 (24% bracket) | $73,776 (35% bracket) | +$20,439 |
| 85 | $409,443 | $89,630 (32% bracket) | $123,939 (35% bracket) | +$34,310 |
| 90 | $602,721 | $154,721 (35% bracket) | $191,586 (35% bracket) | +$36,866 |
Federal income tax on the required withdrawal plus $50,000 of other taxable income, less the 2026 standard deduction ($32,200 married, $16,100 single), using 2026 brackets held constant. Excludes the additional standard deduction for age 65 or older, the temporary enhanced senior deduction, state tax, and the net investment income tax. The $50,000 is already-taxable ordinary income, not gross Social Security benefits. Differences are calculated before rounding, so rounded columns may differ by $1. Future inflation adjustments, tax-law changes and household circumstances can change both bills and the gap; this comparison holds the 2026 rules fixed. This shows how the tax code treats the same income under two filing statuses; it is not a projection of anyone's tax.
And federal income tax isn't the only bill that moves. Income at these levels sets Medicare premium surcharges two years later, and the single-filer thresholds are about half the joint ones. In Connecticut, the state's exemption for IRA income disappears at $100,000 of federal AGI for a single filer.
So in these examples the survivor pays more tax, at a higher rate, on a withdrawal they aren't allowed to skip, and that can go on for the rest of their life. A real survivor's income, deductions and required withdrawals may change, so their own numbers need their own calculation.
What you can do about it, and when.
None of this is a reason to stop saving or to panic about growth. Growth is the goal. The point is that the tax on a growing pre-tax account doesn't go away; it gets scheduled. You can let the IRS's table do the scheduling, or you can do some of it yourself, earlier, at rates you choose:
- Stop adding to the pile, if you're still working. Roth 401(k) contributions instead of pre-tax, where it makes sense. Why are you still feeding the IRA? →
- Use the gap years. Between the last paycheck and the first required withdrawal, consider converting some of the IRA to a Roth while you still file jointly, when the all-in cost today is lower than what you expect to pay later. With the same subsequent returns and distribution factors, a smaller pre-tax balance produces smaller required withdrawals. An RMD itself cannot be converted. The best years to convert →
- Put the growth in the Roth. If the fastest-growing investments compound in the Roth instead of the IRA, the IRA grows more slowly and the required withdrawals stay smaller. Asset location →
- Use charity on purpose. Beginning at age 70½, an eligible IRA distribution paid directly to an eligible charity can qualify as a QCD, subject to annual limits and other rules. An eligible QCD is excluded from income and can satisfy all or part of an RMD once RMDs apply.
Each of these costs something today. Whether it's worth it depends on your numbers, which is exactly why it's worth running them before 75, not after.
Bring it back to your plan
Four questions worth asking
- When do my required withdrawals start, 73 or 75?
- If my pre-tax accounts keep growing until then, roughly what will the first one be?
- What would that withdrawal cost whoever of us is left, filing alone?
- How many years do I have between my last paycheck and my first required withdrawal to do something about it?
What this article does not show.
Worth being explicit, because an article like this can imply more than it should.
- The growth rates are hypothetical. 7% and 10% are round numbers chosen to illustrate the Rule of 72. They are not projections, not the return of any investment, and not a guarantee of anything. Real returns vary and include losses.
- It ignores fees, inflation and spending. Real accounts have costs, real dollars lose purchasing power, and most people withdraw before 75.
- The tax figures are arithmetic, not forecasts. They apply 2026 federal brackets to the stated income. Brackets change with inflation and law, and state tax is not included.
- It is not a recommendation to convert. Conversions cost tax now, cannot be undone, and are not right for every household.
Try it on your own dates
How many years do you have before the train arrives?
Map the years between your last paycheck and your first required withdrawal, or take the two-minute check.
Map your conversion window → Is a conversion worth a look for you? →The survivor's bracket
What happens to the tax bill when one spouse is left filing alone.
Read the article →The timing
Why the years right after the paychecks stop are often the cheapest time to convert.
Read the article →Know where you stand
What you own, where you hold it, and how much has never been taxed.
See your snapshot →See your own freight train.
An hour is enough to see roughly what your first required withdrawal could be, what it would cost a survivor, and how many years you have to change it.
Talk with Rich →Educational content written by Rich LoPresti, CFP®. It is not individualized investment, tax or legal advice and not a recommendation. All growth figures are hypothetical, use constant rates for illustration only, and do not represent the performance of any investment or account. Required minimum distributions are calculated from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table; required beginning age is 73 for those born 1951–1959 and 75 for those born in 1960 or later. Federal tax figures apply 2026 brackets and standard deductions and are not projections. Qualified charitable distributions are available from IRAs beginning at age 70½, subject to annual limits. Roth conversions are taxable in the year they occur and cannot be recharacterized. Sources: IRS Publication 590-B (Uniform Lifetime Table); IRS 2026 inflation adjustments. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Retirement Approaching provides retirement-planning education. Advisory services are offered through Milestone Asset Management Group, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. No investment result or tax savings is guaranteed.