IRS Retirement Ages: 59½, Rule of 55, and RMDs at 73

The IRS retirement age rules hinge on three numbers: at 59½ the 10% early-withdrawal penalty disappears, at 73 required minimum distributions begin for most people, and at 75 those RMDs begin instead if you were born in 1960 or later. A handful of side rules at 50, 55, and 70½ shift those thresholds in specific situations, and Roth IRAs follow a parallel track with their own five-year clock. Miss one of these markers and the cost ranges from a 10% penalty on what you took out to a 25% excise tax on what you failed to take out.

What Changes at Age 59½

Once you pass 59½, the 10% additional tax on early distributions from traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other tax-deferred accounts goes away.¹ Regular income tax still applies to anything you withdraw from a pre-tax account, but the surcharge designed to discourage early spending is gone.

The 10% penalty only ever applied to the taxable portion of a withdrawal. If you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA, the portion representing already-taxed money came out penalty-free and tax-free at any age. For most people with deductible IRAs and traditional 401(k)s, though, the full balance is taxable on the way out.

Getting at the Money Before 59½

The tax code lists several ways to pull money out early without the 10% penalty. None of them erase the income tax; they only waive the extra charge.

The Rule of 55

If you leave your job in or after the calendar year you turn 55, you can take penalty-free distributions from that employer’s retirement plan without waiting for 59½. It applies whether you quit, retire, or get laid off.¹

The catch is narrow: the exception only covers the plan you held at the employer you separated from. Roll that 401(k) into an IRA and you lose Rule of 55 access, with the standard 59½ threshold snapping back into place. For anyone planning to retire between 55 and 59½, leaving the balance in the former employer’s plan can preserve penalty-free withdrawals.

Public Safety at 50

Qualified public safety employees get an earlier window. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, corrections officers, customs and border protection officers, federal firefighters, air traffic controllers, and private-sector firefighters can take penalty-free distributions from their employer plan if they separate from service in or after the year they turn 50.¹

Substantially Equal Periodic Payments

At any age, you can set up a series of payments calculated from your life expectancy and take them at least annually. Once you start, you must continue for five years or until you reach 59½, whichever comes later. Modify the payments early and the penalty applies retroactively to everything you’ve already withdrawn.²

Life Events and Hardship

Longstanding exceptions cover distributions after the account owner’s death or total and permanent disability, unreimbursed medical expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, and up to $10,000 from an IRA (not an employer plan) for a first-time home purchase over your lifetime.¹

The SECURE 2.0 Act, enacted in late 2022, added several more. Each parent can withdraw up to $5,000 per child for birth or adoption expenses from any retirement account. If you live in a federally declared disaster area, you can withdraw up to $22,000 per disaster, repay it within three years, and spread the income over three tax years.³ A physician’s certification of a terminal illness expected to result in death within 84 months unlocks penalty-free withdrawals with no dollar limit; this applies to distributions taken after December 29, 2022.

Emergency personal expense distributions let you take up to $1,000 a year from a plan or IRA for unforeseeable costs, with repayment allowed within three years. You cannot take another emergency distribution from the same plan for three calendar years unless you repay the first one or make new contributions covering it.⁴

Roth IRAs and the Five-Year Clock

Roth IRAs follow a parallel set of age rules because contributions go in after tax. You can withdraw your own contributions at any age, for any reason, with no tax and no penalty. Earnings are different. To pull earnings out completely tax-free and penalty-free, you need to be at least 59½ and your Roth IRA must have been open for at least five tax years.⁵ The five-year clock starts on January 1 of the tax year of your first Roth IRA contribution.

Take earnings out before meeting both conditions and you owe income tax on them, plus the 10% penalty unless one of the exceptions above applies. The exceptions can waive the penalty, but the income tax on earnings still runs until the distribution is fully qualified under both tests.⁶

Roth IRAs also carry no required minimum distributions during your lifetime, so the next two age thresholds don’t apply to them.

Age 70½: Qualified Charitable Distributions

Starting at 70½, you can transfer money directly from a traditional IRA to a qualifying charity as a qualified charitable distribution. The QCD counts toward your RMD for the year but doesn’t appear in your taxable income. For 2026, you can donate up to $111,000 this way, with an inflation adjustment each year, and spouses can each use their own limit independently.

QCDs only work from IRAs, not from 401(k)s or other employer plans. The transfer must move directly from your IRA custodian to the charity; if the check comes to you first, it doesn’t qualify.

Age 73 or 75: When RMDs Begin

The government defers tax on traditional retirement accounts for decades but won’t wait indefinitely. Required minimum distributions force you to withdraw a set amount each year and pay income tax on it, whether you need the money or not.

Under current law, you must begin RMDs starting with the year you turn 73.⁷ Age 73 applies to anyone born between 1951 and 1959. If you were born in 1960 or later, your starting age is 75. SECURE 2.0 phased in the increase to give more years of tax-deferred growth.

RMDs apply to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, and profit-sharing plans. They do not apply to Roth IRAs or to designated Roth accounts in employer plans during the original owner’s lifetime.⁸

The April 1 Double-RMD Trap

Your first RMD is due for the year you reach the applicable age, but you can delay actually taking it until April 1 of the following year.⁷ Every later RMD is due by December 31. The trap: if you delay that first RMD to April 1, your second RMD is still due by December 31 of the same year. Two taxable distributions land in one tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket, raise your Medicare premiums, and make more of your Social Security benefits taxable.

The 25% Penalty for Missing an RMD

If you don’t withdraw enough, you owe an excise tax of 25% on the shortfall. The penalty drops to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years by taking the missed amount and filing Form 5329.⁸ At 25%, this is one of the steepest penalties in the tax code. Setting up automatic distributions with your custodian or plan administrator is the usual safeguard.

The Still-Working Exception

Still employed past 73 or 75? You can delay RMDs from your current employer’s plan until the year you actually retire, provided you own 5% or less of the business sponsoring the plan.⁷ The exception only covers that employer’s plan. Any traditional IRA or old 401(k) from a previous employer still requires RMDs on the normal schedule.

Inherited Accounts Follow Different Rules

If you inherited a retirement account, the age rules above don’t govern your withdrawals. A separate framework applies, with different timelines for a surviving spouse than for other beneficiaries, and most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited after 2019 must empty the account by the end of the 10th year following the original owner’s death.⁹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
2
Internal Revenue Service. Substantially Equal Periodic Payments
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8915-F
4
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-55 – Certain Exceptions to the 10 Percent Additional Tax
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 408A – Roth IRAs
7
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
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Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary