403(b) plans follow the same required minimum distribution framework as 401(k)s and traditional IRAs. Under the 403(b) RMD rules, most participants must begin withdrawing money by April 1 of the year after they turn 73, take a new distribution every December 31 after that, and face a 25 percent excise tax on anything they should have withdrawn but did not.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans The exact starting age, and whether you can delay at all, depends on your birth year and whether you are still working.
When RMDs Start
The starting age has moved twice in recent years. SECURE 2.0, passed in 2022, set it on a schedule tied to birth year:
- Born before July 1, 1949: RMDs started at 70½.
- Born July 1, 1949 through December 31, 1950: RMDs started at 72.
- Born 1951 through 1958: RMDs begin at 73.
- Born 1960 or later: RMDs begin at 75, starting in 2033.
If you were born in 1959, your starting age is unresolved. A drafting error in SECURE 2.0 technically assigned both 73 and 75 to that birth year. The IRS has acknowledged the conflict and reserved a regulation paragraph to address it, but as of early 2026 the final rule has not been published.2Federal Register. Required Minimum Distributions Check with your plan administrator or tax advisor before acting.
The Still-Working Exception
If you are still employed by the organization that sponsors your 403(b), you can delay RMDs from that plan until April 1 of the year after you actually retire, even if you have passed your normal starting age.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Retirees: April 1 Final Day to Begin Required Withdrawals From IRAs and 401(k)s The postponement covers only the 403(b) with your current employer. Any 403(b) sitting with a former employer follows the standard age-based schedule.
You cannot use this exception if you own more than 5 percent of the sponsoring organization, though that ownership structure is rare in the nonprofits and schools where most 403(b) plans live.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Retirees: April 1 Final Day to Begin Required Withdrawals From IRAs and 401(k)s Your plan will typically require proof of active employment to confirm the deferral.
How the Amount Is Calculated
Your RMD for a given year equals your 403(b) balance on December 31 of the prior year, divided by a life expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.4Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) You look up the factor for the age you turn during the distribution year, and that divisor produces the minimum you must withdraw.
One alternative table exists. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and is more than ten years younger than you, you can use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table instead.4Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Its longer combined life expectancy produces a smaller required withdrawal. Both tables appear in IRS Publication 590-B.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions From Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
An RMD is not eligible for rollover. If you plan to roll a 403(b) balance into an IRA in a year when an RMD is due, the RMD portion must be distributed to you first. Only the amount above the RMD can move into the IRA.
Deadlines and the Double-Distribution Year
Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you reach your applicable starting age, or April 1 of the year after you retire if the still-working exception applied. Every RMD after that is due by December 31.4Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Waiting until that April 1 date for your first distribution creates a double-distribution year. You owe the first RMD by April 1 and the second by December 31 of the same calendar year, and both amounts count as taxable income for that year. Taking the first distribution by December 31 of the year you reach your starting age, rather than waiting until April, spreads the income across two tax years and often cuts the total tax bill.
If You Miss an RMD
The excise tax on a missed or short RMD is 25 percent of the shortfall.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans If you correct the mistake within the IRS correction window, the penalty drops to 10 percent.
You can also ask the IRS to waive the tax entirely. Withdraw the missed amount as soon as possible, then file Form 5329 reporting the shortfall and attach a letter showing the miss was due to a reasonable error and that you have taken steps to fix it.6Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 5329 – Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts The IRS reviews the request and notifies you if any additional tax is owed.
Roth 403(b) Accounts Are Exempt
Starting with the 2024 tax year, Roth accounts inside employer-sponsored plans, including Roth 403(b)s, are no longer subject to RMDs during the account holder’s lifetime. Before this SECURE 2.0 change, participants either had to take RMDs from a Roth 403(b) or roll the balance to a Roth IRA to avoid them. That workaround is no longer necessary.
The exemption applies only while you are alive. After your death, beneficiaries who inherit a Roth 403(b) still face distribution requirements, generally the same inherited-account rules that apply to traditional 403(b)s.7Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
Multiple 403(b) Accounts
If you have more than one 403(b), calculate the RMD for each account separately. You can then withdraw the combined total from a single account or split it across them however you like.8Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs That flexibility can help if one account has better investment options or lower fees.
This aggregation works only within the same account type. A 403(b) RMD cannot be satisfied by a distribution from a 401(k) or a traditional IRA, and the reverse is also true. IRAs aggregate among themselves, but the two pools stay separate.9Internal Revenue Service. RMD Comparison Chart (IRAs vs. Defined Contribution Plans)
Pre-1987 Balances
A special rule applies to 403(b) money that was in the account on December 31, 1986. This frozen balance, sometimes called “old money,” is exempt from the age-73 RMD rules. Those funds do not need to be distributed until December 31 of the year you turn 75, or April 1 of the year after you retire, whichever is later.8Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
The exemption covers only the balance as of that date, not the earnings those contributions generated afterward. Growth on pre-1987 contributions is treated as post-1986 money and folds into your regular RMD calculation.2Federal Register. Required Minimum Distributions Your plan’s recordkeeper must have tracked the December 31, 1986 balance separately. If those records were not kept, the entire account is treated as post-1986.
When you take distributions from a 403(b) that holds both pre-1987 and post-1986 balances, withdrawals that satisfy your age-73 RMD come from the post-1986 balance first. Anything you withdraw beyond the required minimum is treated as coming from the pre-1987 portion.8Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs Moving pre-1987 money to an IRA or another plan type typically strips this special status, so keeping it in the 403(b) preserves the deferral.
Inherited 403(b) Accounts
If you inherit a 403(b) from someone who died in 2020 or later, your options depend on your relationship to the account holder, and the plan document itself may narrow what is available. Confirm with the plan administrator before deciding.
A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary has the most flexibility, including rolling the balance into their own IRA or taking distributions over their own life expectancy. Most non-spouse individual beneficiaries must empty the inherited account by the end of the 10th year after the account holder’s death. A narrow group of “eligible designated beneficiaries,” which includes a minor child of the deceased, a disabled or chronically ill individual, and anyone no more than 10 years younger than the account holder, may stretch distributions over their own life expectancy instead. Estates and certain trusts follow the older pre-SECURE rules, and a lump sum is available to any beneficiary at any time.7Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
One Thing You Cannot Do From a 403(b)
Qualified Charitable Distributions, the tax-free transfers from a retirement account directly to a charity, are available only from IRAs. A QCD cannot be made directly from a 403(b). To use one, you would first roll the 403(b) into a traditional IRA and then send the distribution from the IRA.