The 10-year clock on an inherited IRA starts on January 1 of the calendar year after the original account owner’s death, and the account must be emptied by December 31 of the tenth year. If the owner died at any point in 2024, the clock starts January 1, 2025, and the deadline is December 31, 2034. The exact date of death within the year doesn’t shift the math. What varies from one beneficiary to the next is whether you owe annual withdrawals along the way, and that turns on how old the owner was when they died.
When the Clock Starts
The SECURE Act took effect January 1, 2020, and replaced the old life-expectancy “stretch” with a 10-year liquidation window for most non-spouse beneficiaries.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary The IRS measures the window from the calendar year of death, not the exact date, and the deadline lands on December 31 of the tenth year.
A quick illustration: an IRA owner who dies on March 3, 2025, and one who dies on November 28, 2025, produce identical deadlines for their beneficiaries. Both accounts must be emptied by December 31, 2035.
The rule covers traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and most other defined contribution plans where the owner died on or after January 1, 2020. The Roth deadline is the same as the traditional deadline, even though the tax treatment on the way out is different. The 10-year rule applies to any named individual beneficiary who doesn’t fall into one of the exception categories described below.
Do You Owe Annual Withdrawals Inside the 10 Years?
The 10-year rule is not “wait and take it all at the end” for every beneficiary. Whether you must take annual distributions in years one through nine depends on one fact about the original owner: whether they had reached their Required Beginning Date (RBD) before dying.
The RBD is April 1 of the year after the owner turns 73.2Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs SECURE 2.0 raised the age from 72 to 73 starting in 2023, and it will rise again to 75 for people born in 1960 or later. If the owner died before April 1 of the year after turning 73, they died before their RBD. If they died on or after that date, they died after their RBD.
The Treasury Department’s final regulations, published in July 2024, confirmed this two-track framework and made it enforceable starting with the 2025 calendar year.3Federal Register. Required Minimum Distributions
Owner Died Before the RBD
No annual distributions are required in years one through nine. You can leave the balance untouched for the full decade and take it all in year 10, or you can withdraw any amount in any year along the way. The only hard requirement is that the balance reach zero by December 31 of the tenth year.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
Owner Died On or After the RBD
Annual distributions are required in years one through nine, and whatever remains must come out by December 31 of year 10.4Charles Schwab. Inherited IRA Rules and SECURE Act 2.0 Changes The logic is that if the owner was already obligated to take money out every year, that obligation continues after the account changes hands.
Each annual amount is calculated using the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table.5eCFR. 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9 – Life Expectancy and Uniform Lifetime Tables Look up the life expectancy factor for your age in the year after the owner’s death, then divide the prior year-end account balance by that factor. In each subsequent year, reduce the factor by one and repeat. These are minimums; you can always withdraw more.
The Penalty for Missing a Required Withdrawal
The excise tax for failing to take a required distribution is 25% of the shortfall between what you should have withdrawn and what you actually took out.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans SECURE 2.0 cut the rate from the old 50% level.
The rate drops to 10% if you correct the missed distribution within the correction window, which generally runs through the end of the second tax year after the penalty is imposed.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans To claim the reduced rate, take the missed distribution and file Form 5329. Enter “RC” and the waiver amount on the dotted line next to line 54, attach a statement explaining the reasonable cause, and pay any remaining tax due on line 55.7IRS. 2025 Instructions for Form 5329 – Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts The IRS reviews the explanation and will notify you if the waiver is denied.
The penalty applies per year, per missed distribution. Miss annual RMDs in both 2025 and 2026, and you owe the excise tax on each year’s shortfall separately. The IRS transition relief that waived penalties for missed annual distributions in 2021 through 2024 is over; enforcement began with the 2025 calendar year.8Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-35, Certain Required Minimum Distributions for 2024
Beneficiaries Who Are Not On the 10-Year Clock
The SECURE Act carved out five categories of Eligible Designated Beneficiaries (EDBs) who can still take distributions over their own life expectancy instead of the 10-year window.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
- Surviving spouses have the most options of any beneficiary. A spouse can roll the inherited IRA into their own account and delay distributions until reaching their own RBD, or keep it as an inherited IRA and take life expectancy distributions.
- Minor children of the deceased owner can take life expectancy distributions while under 21. Once the child turns 21, the 10-year clock starts, and the remaining balance must be distributed by December 31 of the year the child turns 31. This applies only to the owner’s own children, not grandchildren, stepchildren, or nieces and nephews.3Federal Register. Required Minimum Distributions
- Disabled individuals who meet the IRS definition of disability can stretch distributions over their own life expectancy. Medical documentation is required.
- Chronically ill individuals can use the life expectancy method with certification from a licensed health care practitioner.
- Beneficiaries not more than 10 years younger than the deceased owner can also use life expectancy. The age gap is measured as of the owner’s date of death.
EDB status doesn’t always last. When a minor child turns 21, or when an EDB of any type dies, the remaining balance shifts to the 10-year rule for whoever inherits next.
If You Die Before Emptying the Account
If you inherit an IRA and die before the 10-year window closes, your successor beneficiary does not get a fresh 10 years. They must finish distributing the account within your original timeline.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) If you inherited from someone who died in 2023 with a deadline of December 31, 2033, and you die in 2028, whoever inherits from you still has to empty the account by December 31, 2033.
The rules work differently when the original beneficiary was an EDB taking life expectancy distributions. If an EDB dies, a new 10-year window starts from the EDB’s date of death, and the successor beneficiary must empty the account by December 31 of the year containing the 10th anniversary of that death.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) The same fresh 10-year window applies when a minor child reaches age 21, running from the date of majority rather than from the original owner’s death.
When the Beneficiary Is Not an Individual
If the beneficiary is an estate, a charity, or a trust that doesn’t qualify as a see-through trust, the 10-year rule doesn’t apply at all. A shorter timeline takes over. When the owner died before their RBD, the entire account must be distributed within five years, by December 31 of the year containing the fifth anniversary of the owner’s death.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) When the owner died after their RBD, distributions can be taken over the remaining life expectancy of the deceased owner.
This matters most when an owner names the estate as beneficiary or leaves no beneficiary designation. The forced distribution is faster and, for a traditional IRA, the concentrated income can produce a larger tax hit.
What to Do Now
Pull two facts about the original owner: date of birth and date of death. Those tell you the year the 10-year clock starts and whether the owner had passed their RBD. If the answer is pre-RBD, you have flexibility on timing inside the window. If the answer is post-RBD, confirm you took an annual distribution for 2025, plan for 2026, and use the Single Life Expectancy Table to size each year’s minimum. If you already missed a required distribution, take it now and file Form 5329 with a reasonable-cause statement to seek the reduced 10% rate.