7 Common RMD Mistakes That Cost Retirees Thousands (2026)

Most RMD errors aren't the result of complex misunderstanding. They come from getting basic mechanical rules wrong — taking a first distribution at the wrong time, using the wrong IRS table, or assuming one account's distribution covers another. Each mistake below is common, real, and expensive. The penalty for an under-distributed RMD alone is 25% of the shortfall. Here's what to watch for.

Mistake 1: Delaying the first RMD to April 1 — and triggering two taxable distributions in one year

The IRS allows a one-time grace period for your very first RMD. Instead of the usual December 31 deadline, you can delay your first required distribution until April 1 of the following year — this date is called the Required Beginning Date (RBD).¹

The trap: if you take your first RMD in January–April using that extension, you still must take your second annual RMD (for the new calendar year) by December 31 of that same year. Two full RMDs land in one tax year.

How to avoid it: Take your first RMD in the calendar year you turn 73 — ideally in December, which is both timely and preserves the option to do Roth conversions or QCDs earlier in that year. Don't use the April 1 extension unless you have a specific, documented reason that makes the double-year worth it (for example, a large itemized deduction in the extension year that would offset the income).

See: RMD Starting Age: SECURE 2.0 Birth-Year Rules and the April 1 Deadline

Mistake 2: Skipping annual RMDs on an inherited IRA after the SECURE Act

When the SECURE Act eliminated the "stretch IRA" for most non-spouse beneficiaries in 2020, it replaced it with a 10-year rule — full account drainage by December 31 of the tenth year after the year of the owner's death. Many beneficiaries interpreted this as "I can take anything I want within 10 years, or wait until year 10 to take everything."

That interpretation is wrong if the decedent was already taking RMDs when they died.

In July 2024, Treasury finalized T.D. 10001, which resolved years of ambiguity: if the account owner died on or after their Required Beginning Date (already past age 73 and taking RMDs), the 10-year rule still applies — but annual minimum distributions are also required in each of years 1 through 9, calculated on the Single Life Table using the beneficiary's age. Only in year 10 does the beneficiary have full flexibility to take everything remaining.²

Beneficiaries who ignored distributions in years 1–5 because they thought the 10-year rule allowed unlimited flexibility may now have cumulative shortfalls subject to the 25% excise tax on each missed year's minimum.

How to avoid it: First, determine whether the decedent had passed their Required Beginning Date. If yes, you need to take annual minimum distributions each year — don't just plan for a year-10 lump-sum. A missed annual minimum is a separate penalty event for each year skipped.

See: Inherited IRA 10-Year Rule: Distribution Calculator and Strategy

Mistake 3: Using the Uniform Lifetime Table when a different table applies

Most IRA owners use IRS Table III (Uniform Lifetime Table) to calculate their RMD — divide the prior-year December 31 balance by the applicable distribution period for their age. This is correct for the large majority of retirees.

But two situations require a different table, and using the wrong one produces either an over-distribution (you pay tax earlier than necessary) or an under-distribution (you owe the 25% penalty).³

The most financially significant error here is the spousal case. If your spouse is 15 years younger and you use the Uniform Lifetime Table instead of Table II, you're taking larger distributions than required — and paying more income tax, more IRMAA surcharges, and depleting your tax-deferred account faster than necessary.

How to avoid it: If your spouse is the sole IRA beneficiary, check the age gap. If they're more than 10 years younger, confirm with your custodian that they're calculating your RMD using Table II. The difference in divisors can be meaningful — at age 75 with a spouse age 60, Table III gives a divisor of 24.6 and Table II gives a divisor of 29.8, about 17% smaller required distributions each year.

See: Spousal RMD Strategy: Younger Spouse Joint Life Table and IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III) with Quick Calculator

Mistake 4: Taking IRA distributions to satisfy a 401(k) RMD

IRA aggregation rules allow you to pool your traditional IRAs together, calculate the total RMD across all of them, and then take the entire distribution from any single IRA or combination. Many retirees understand this and use it effectively.

The mistake comes when they assume the same flexibility applies across account types. It does not.

A 401(k) RMD is completely separate from an IRA RMD. Each 401(k) or 403(b) plan must satisfy its own RMD independently — you cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD by withdrawing extra from an IRA.⁴ (403(b) plans have their own internal aggregation pool — you can combine multiple 403(b)s — but 403(b) distributions do not satisfy IRA or 401(k) RMDs.)

How to avoid it: Inventory every retirement account you hold. Calculate the RMD for each 401(k) separately. IRA accounts can be aggregated and satisfied from any single IRA. But 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and governmental 457(b)s each have their own separate calculation and distribution requirements.

If maintaining multiple plan accounts is creating confusion, one option is rolling old 401(k) balances to an IRA — which brings everything into the IRA aggregation pool and simplifies the annual calculation. Consider the tradeoffs (creditor protection, NUA opportunity) before rolling.

See: RMD Aggregation Rules: Which Accounts Can Be Combined? and 401(k) RMD Rules: No Aggregation and the Still-Working Exception

Mistake 5: Distributing IRA funds to yourself and then writing a separate check to charity

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) lets IRA owners age 70½ or older give up to $111,000 directly to a qualifying charity in 2026 and exclude that amount from adjusted gross income entirely — a better deal than even itemizing the donation.⁵ (QCDs also count toward your RMD requirement, so they offset the distribution you'd have had to take anyway.)

The critical requirement: the distribution must go directly from the IRA custodian to the qualified charity. You cannot take a distribution to yourself, deposit it in your bank account, and then write a check to charity and call it a QCD. That's a standard IRA distribution (fully taxable) plus a separate charitable donation (deductible only if you itemize).

A second, related mistake: planning to do QCDs in December but forgetting that your IRA distributions earlier in the year reduced the amount eligible for QCD treatment. QCDs cannot exceed your remaining RMD balance for the year, and while you can do QCDs at any point in the year, failing to plan their sequencing with other distributions can reduce their IRMAA benefit if you've already taken other taxable distributions that pushed you into a higher tier.

How to avoid it: Call your IRA custodian at the start of the year to initiate QCD transfers directly to your chosen charities before taking any cash distributions from the same account. Plan QCDs before other IRA distributions to maximize the AGI exclusion's IRMAA impact. Confirm the charity is a qualifying 501(c)(3) organization — QCDs cannot go to donor-advised funds (DAFs) or private foundations.

See: QCD Rules and Strategy Guide and QCD Calculator: Tax Savings and IRMAA Tier Impact

Mistake 6: Ignoring the IRMAA two-year lookback on RMD income

Medicare's Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) adds surcharges to your Part B and Part D premiums based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income — but with a two-year delay. Your 2026 Medicare premiums are based on your 2024 MAGI. Your 2028 premiums will be based on 2026 MAGI.⁶

The mistake: taking a large RMD in a year without recognizing that the income will trigger — or worsen — an IRMAA surcharge two years later.

Source: CMS 2026 Medicare Part B fact sheet.⁶

If your RMD income in 2026 pushes your MAGI from $105,000 to $120,000 (single), you've crossed the Tier 1 threshold — adding $861.60 in extra Part B premiums in 2028. If you're married and both spouses are on Medicare, that's $1,723.20 extra per year, potentially for many years going forward.

The mistake compounds when retirees also do Roth conversions in the same year as large RMDs without accounting for the combined MAGI impact on the two-year lookback.

How to avoid it: When planning your annual RMD and any Roth conversions, calculate your total projected 2026 MAGI and check where it falls relative to the 2028 IRMAA thresholds. Use QCDs to reduce RMD-driven income — up to $111,000 of IRA distributions that go directly to charity are excluded from MAGI entirely. Target distributions to stop just below the next IRMAA tier, not just below the next income tax bracket.

See: IRMAA Planning Guide, IRMAA Calculator 2026, and Roth Conversion Sizing: How Much to Convert This Year

Mistake 7: Rolling over RMD funds to another retirement account

Required minimum distributions are not eligible for rollover. Under IRC §408(d)(3)(E), amounts that must be distributed as RMDs in a given year are specifically excluded from the rollover rules.⁷ You cannot roll an RMD into a new IRA, a Roth IRA (for conversion), or any employer plan.

This creates a trap that catches people who receive RMD checks from their custodian and, thinking they're doing a 60-day rollover, deposit the check into a new IRA within 60 days. The amount does not qualify as a rollover contribution. It is instead treated as an excess IRA contribution — subject to a 6% annual excise tax for every year it stays in the account until corrected.

A related mistake: thinking you can do a Roth conversion to satisfy or reduce your RMD. The ordering rule applies here too — you must take your full RMD first before converting any remaining balance to Roth. Any conversion attempt using funds that should have been the RMD will be treated as a failed rollover on the RMD portion.

How to avoid it: If you want to take more than your RMD in a year, plan carefully. The first dollars out satisfy the RMD and are not rollover-eligible. Any excess above the RMD can be rolled over or converted, subject to all normal rollover rules. Never treat a custodian check for your RMD as a 60-day rollover check.

See: RMD Rollover Rules: What Is and Isn't Eligible and Roth Conversions After 73: The RMD-First Ordering Rule

Summary: The seven mistakes at a glance

Why these mistakes happen — and why an advisor helps

Each of these errors involves a nuance that most general financial guidance doesn't cover in depth. The April 1 extension is widely known but its implications aren't. The T.D. 10001 annual RMD requirement for inherited accounts was only finalized in July 2024. The IRMAA two-year lookback is rarely modeled when RMD amounts are set. The direct-transfer requirement for QCDs is easy to misunderstand on first reading.

An advisor who specializes in retirement distribution planning — not general accumulation planning — will have seen these scenarios repeatedly and will model your specific situation: your RMD starting age, your inherited account status, your IRMAA exposure, your QCD potential, and the interplay of Roth conversions with all of the above.