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 deadline for that first withdrawal is April 1, 2026, but taking it by December 31, 2025 is usually the better move. Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of its own year.

Your First and Second RMD Deadlines

Under SECURE Act 2.0, anyone born between 1951 and 1959 begins RMDs at age 73.¹ Because you reach 73 during 2025, that is your first distribution year.

The IRS gives a one-time grace period on the first RMD only. You can wait until April 1 of the year after you turn 73 to take it, so the absolute latest date for your 2025 RMD is April 1, 2026.²

Your second RMD, for the 2026 tax year, is due by December 31, 2026. Every year afterward follows that same December 31 deadline.

Why Waiting Until April 2026 Usually Costs You

The grace period sounds like a gift, and often it isn’t. If you delay the first RMD into early 2026, the second RMD still has to come out by December 31, 2026. Two mandatory withdrawals land in the same calendar year, and both count as income on your 2026 return.

Stacking two distributions 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. None of those effects require a huge income spike to kick in. For most retirees, taking the first RMD by December 31, 2025 spreads the income across two tax years and avoids the pile-up.

Waiting until April can make sense in narrow cases, such as when 2025 is already an unusually high-income year and 2026 will be much lower. Run the numbers before you decide.

How to Calculate the Amount

The formula is simple: divide the account balance on December 31 of the prior year by the life expectancy factor for your age in the distribution year. The IRS publishes those factors in Publication 590-B.²

For a 1952 birth year, the first RMD covers 2025 and uses the December 31, 2024 balance divided by 26.5, which is the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for age 73.³ A $500,000 balance would produce a first RMD of about $18,868.

The 2026 RMD uses the December 31, 2025 balance divided by 25.5, the factor for age 74.³ The dollar amount will change every year as the balance and the factor both move.

One exception on the factor: if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger than you, use the Joint and Last Survivor Table instead. It produces a larger divisor, a smaller RMD, and a lower tax bill.³

Which of Your Accounts Are Covered

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

Roth IRAs never require distributions during the original owner’s lifetime. As of 2024, designated Roth accounts inside workplace plans, meaning Roth 401(k), Roth 403(b), and Roth 457(b) balances, are also exempt while the owner is alive.² That is a recent change; before 2024, the workplace Roth accounts did require distributions.

Multiple Traditional IRAs get calculated separately, but you can pull the combined total from whichever one you choose.² A 401(k) RMD, by contrast, has to come out of that specific 401(k). You cannot use an IRA withdrawal to satisfy a 401(k) RMD or vice versa.⁴

Still Working at 73

If you are still employed past age 73, you may be able to postpone RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k), 403(b), or similar workplace plan until the year you actually retire, provided the plan allows it.²

Two limits on this delay matter. It doesn’t apply if you own 5% or more of the business sponsoring the plan.² And it never applies to Traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs, which require distributions at 73 whether you are working or not.⁵ Working retirees often owe IRA RMDs while legitimately deferring the 401(k) at their current job.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

The IRS imposes an excise tax of 25% on any RMD amount not withdrawn by the deadline.⁵ On a missed $19,000 distribution, that is roughly $4,750, and you still owe regular income tax on the amount when you do withdraw it.

The penalty drops to 10% if you take the missed distribution within two years of the original due date.⁵ The IRS can also waive the penalty entirely if the miss came from a reasonable error and you have taken steps to correct it. You request the waiver by filing Form 5329 with a letter explaining what happened.²

Using Qualified Charitable Distributions

A qualified charitable distribution sends money directly from your Traditional IRA to an eligible charity, and it counts toward your RMD without adding to your taxable income. The minimum age is 70½, so anyone born in 1952 has been eligible for years.⁶

The annual cap is $108,000 per person in 2025 and $111,000 in 2026.⁷ The transfer has to go straight from the IRA custodian to the charity; if the money touches your account first, it doesn’t qualify. QCDs cannot be made from SEP or SIMPLE IRAs still receiving employer contributions, and the recipient must be a public charity, not a donor-advised fund or private foundation.⁶ If you already give to charity, routing those gifts through the IRA is one of the cleanest ways to reduce the tax cost of the RMD.

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