RMD for Someone Born in 1952: Deadlines, Calculation, and Penalties

If you were born in 1952, you turn 73 in 2025, which makes 2025 your first required minimum distribution year. The RMD for someone born in 1952 must be taken no later than April 1, 2026, but in most cases you’re better off taking it by December 31, 2025 instead. The reason has to do with how a second withdrawal stacks on top of the first if you use the grace period.

Your First Deadline and Why It Exists

SECURE Act 2.0 set the RMD starting age at 73 for anyone born between 1951 and 1959. People born in 1960 or later don’t have to start until 75.¹ Because you reach 73 during 2025, that is your first distribution year.

The IRS allows one grace period, and only for the very first RMD: you can wait until April 1 of the year after you turn 73.² For you, that’s April 1, 2026. Your second RMD, covering the 2026 tax year, is due December 31, 2026. Every RMD after that follows the same December 31 deadline.

The Trap in the April 1 Grace Period

Using the grace period sounds like free flexibility. It isn’t. If you take your first RMD in early 2026, you’ll also have to take your second RMD by December 31, 2026. Both withdrawals count as taxable income on the same year’s return.

Two RMDs in one tax year can push you into a higher federal bracket, increase the taxable portion of your Social Security benefits, and raise your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums through the income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA). The bump doesn’t have to be large to trip any of these. Taking the first RMD by December 31, 2025 splits the income across two tax years and usually costs less overall.

How to Calculate the Amount

Divide the account balance on December 31 of the prior year by the life expectancy factor for your age in the distribution year. The factors come from IRS Publication 590-B.²

Your first RMD covers 2025. Use the balance on December 31, 2024, divided by 26.5, the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for age 73. A $500,000 balance produces an RMD of about $18,868. Your second RMD, for 2026, uses the December 31, 2025 balance divided by 25.5 (the factor for age 74).³ Because both the balance and the divisor change each year, the dollar amount will shift.

One exception to the Uniform Lifetime Table: if your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger than you, use the Joint and Last Survivor Table instead.³ The divisor is larger, so the required distribution is smaller.

Which Accounts Are Covered

RMDs apply to Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, profit-sharing plans, and most governmental 457(b) plans.²

Roth IRAs require no RMDs during your lifetime. Starting in 2024, designated Roth accounts inside workplace plans (Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b), Roth 457(b)) are also exempt while you’re alive.²

Taking the Money From the Right Account

If you own more than one Traditional IRA, calculate the RMD for each account separately, then withdraw the total from any one or any combination.² Workplace plans don’t work that way. A 401(k) RMD has to come out of that specific 401(k); you can’t cover it with an IRA withdrawal, and you can’t cover an IRA RMD with a 401(k) withdrawal. Multiple 403(b) accounts can be aggregated with each other, but that’s the only cross-account flexibility on the employer-plan side.⁴

If You’re Still Working

Still on the job at 73? You may be able to delay RMDs from your current employer’s retirement plan until the year you actually retire, if the plan permits it. Two limits apply. First, if you own 5% or more of the business sponsoring the plan, you can’t use this delay.² Second, the still-working exception does not cover IRAs of any kind. Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs still require distributions at 73 even if you’re employed.⁵ A working 73-year-old can end up taking RMDs from their IRAs while legitimately postponing the 401(k) at their current job.

Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution

If you already give to charity, a qualified charitable distribution is one of the cleanest ways to reduce the tax bite of an RMD. A QCD moves money directly from your Traditional IRA to an eligible charity, and the amount counts toward your RMD without appearing as taxable income. Eligibility starts at age 70½, so if you were born in 1952 you’ve qualified for years.⁶

The annual cap is $108,000 per person in 2025 and $111,000 in 2026.⁷ The transfer has to go directly from the IRA custodian to the charity. If the money hits your account first, it no longer qualifies. QCDs can’t come from SEP or SIMPLE IRAs still receiving employer contributions, and the recipient has to be a public charity, not a donor-advised fund or private foundation.⁶

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Miss the RMD, and the IRS charges a 25% excise tax on the shortfall.⁵ On a $19,000 miss, that’s roughly $4,750, and you still owe regular income tax on the distribution when you eventually take it.

The penalty drops to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years of the original deadline by taking the missed amount.⁵ The IRS can also waive the penalty entirely if the failure was due to a reasonable error and you’re fixing it. To ask for the waiver, file Form 5329 with a letter explaining what happened.²

1
Federal Register. Required Minimum Distributions
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B, Distributions From Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
4
Internal Revenue Service. RMD Comparison Chart (IRAs vs. Defined Contribution Plans)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526, Charitable Contributions