RMD Planning
Fiduciary Wealth Management
The IRS Will Decide When You Withdraw.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are mandatory withdrawals the IRS requires you to take from tax-deferred accounts (Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, most employer retirement plans) starting at age 73. The amount is calculated from your account balance and your IRS life-expectancy factor. There's no opting out. Miss them and the penalty is steep. Fail to plan for them and they can push you into a higher tax bracket, trigger IRMAA surcharges on your Medicare premium, and undo years of careful tax management in a single year.
We plan for RMDs years before they start, not weeks before the deadline. That means modeling how your distributions interact with your Social Security income, your Roth conversion window, and your Medicare brackets. It also means identifying strategies (Qualified Charitable Distributions, partial Roth conversions, withdrawal timing) that let you satisfy the IRS requirement without paying more tax than you have to. The goal isn't to minimize this year's RMD. It's to minimize your lifetime tax bill.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for Households Approaching Large (or Inside) the RMD Years.
Clients age 60 to 78 with $500K+ in tax-deferred accounts (Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and similar plans). Particularly valuable in the years before RMDs begin, when there's still time to use the conversion window, structure distributions, and avoid the bracket and IRMAA surprises that catch most retirees off guard. Also valuable for clients already inside their RMD years who want to minimize the tax impact of distributions they're already required to take.
Pillars of Your RMD Strategy
RMD planning isn't one decision made at 73. It's a series of decisions made across the decade leading up to it. Here's how we handle each layer.
Multi-Year Distribution Forecasting
Your first RMD isn't a one-time event. It's the start of a 20+ year tax sequence. The size of your RMD grows each year as the IRS distribution factor decreases, and the cumulative tax impact across all those years often exceeds what most retirees expect. We project your RMD trajectory ten to fifteen years out so you can see the full picture, not just the first year's number. That projection drives every other decision: how much to convert to Roth in the pre-RMD window, how to time Social Security, how to structure your portfolio for tax efficiency in distribution.
Pre-RMD Conversion Strategy
The years between retirement and age 73 are usually the best time to address the RMD problem in advance. You've stopped earning W-2 income but RMDs haven't started yet. Converting a portion of your traditional IRA to Roth during those years reduces the balance that's eventually subject to RMDs, and the resulting forced withdrawals. It's not the right move for everyone (the conversion has its own tax cost and IRMAA implications) but for households with large traditional IRA balances, the pre-RMD window is usually the most leverage you'll get on lifetime tax.
QCDs and Tax-Efficient Distribution
For clients who give to charity, the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is one of the most underused tools in retirement tax planning. Starting at age 70½, you can direct up to $108,000 (2025 limit, inflation-adjusted) per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity. The distribution counts toward your RMD but doesn't count as taxable income. It bypasses your tax return entirely, keeps your adjusted gross income lower, and helps with IRMAA thresholds. For charitably-inclined households, this single strategy can reduce the lifetime tax bill more than almost anything else available.
Let's Build Your Conversion Plan
On your Chain Reaction Audit, Jonathan reviews your projected RMD trajectory, your conversion window, and the strategies available to reduce the tax impact. Then we show you what a coordinated multi-year RMD plan could look like for your situation. No pressure. No product pitch. Just clarity.
Layer 01
Pre-RMD Strategy
The work that happens in the 5 to 13 years before your first RMD. Roth conversions, withdrawal timing, account consolidation, and Social Security claiming decisions all made with the future RMD picture in mind, not in isolation.
Layer 02
In-RMD Optimization
Once RMDs start, the strategy shifts. The focus moves to satisfying the requirement in the most tax-efficient way: QCDs for charitable giving, distribution timing to manage brackets, coordination with capital gains, and ongoing IRMAA management.
Two layers. One coordinated RMD strategy. The kind of planning that turns a mandatory tax event into a manageable one.
What's Included
RMD Strategy, Year by Year.
- Multi-year RMD trajectory modeling
- Pre-RMD Roth conversion coordination
- Annual RMD calculation and distribution timing
- Account consolidation analysis where appropriate
- Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) strategy
- IRMAA bracket coordination
- Inherited IRA RMD planning for heirs
- Annual review and strategy adjustment
The Coordination Advantage
RMDs Don't Live in One Year.
Your RMD picture is shaped by decisions made across your 60s and felt across your 70s and beyond. Here's how RMD planning connects to the rest of your plan when one team handles all of it.
The strongest tool for reducing future RMDs is converting traditional IRA balances to Roth in the years before RMDs start. Conversion strategy and RMD planning are two sides of the same multi-year decision. We model both together, not separately.
Roth Conversions
Every RMD is a taxable event, and the size of your RMD often determines your tax bracket for the year. Coordinating distribution timing, charitable giving, and capital gains harvesting against the RMD picture is the difference between a tax plan that survives RMDs and one that breaks at age 73.
Tax Planning
Your RMD counts as income for IRMAA purposes, and IRMAA is based on income from two years prior. That means your RMD at age 75 affects your Medicare premium at 77. We model RMDs against the IRMAA brackets as part of the broader plan, not as a side calculation.
Medicare Planning
Why Choose Leonard Financial Solutions?
RMD calculations get done at a lot of places. RMD planning gets done at very few. Here's what makes this one different.
Fiduciary by Law
As a fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor, our advisory recommendations are legally required to be in your best interest. The RMD strategy we recommend is the one we believe fits your situation, modeled against your actual numbers.
Planning Starts Years Before Age 73
RMD planning that begins the year your RMD starts is too late. The decisions that matter most are made in your 60s, when the conversion window is open and the trajectory is still adjustable. We start RMD planning the year you retire, not the year you turn 73.
Coordinated With Everything Else
RMD planning at most firms is a calculator that produces a number. RMD planning here is a multi-year strategy run alongside your Roth conversion window, your tax plan, your Medicare premium, and your Social Security claiming decision. One team. One coordinated plan. One direction.
Your Chain Reaction Audit: Three Simple Steps
A coordinated RMD plan starts with one conversation. Here's how it works.
Book Your Audit
Choose a time on Jonathan's calendar. Two minutes, no prep work required.
We Map Your RMD Trajectory
Jonathan walks through your current tax-deferred balances, projects your RMDs across the next 10 to 15 years, and shows you the cumulative tax impact you're heading toward. Then we look at what's still adjustable.
You Get a Clear Picture
No product pitch. Just an honest read on where your RMD picture stands today, what strategies are available to reduce the lifetime tax impact, and how those decisions connect to the rest of your plan.
No cost. No obligation. Just the information you need to decide what to do next.
Common Questions Answered
Got a question? Here's where most people start.
When do RMDs start?
For most retirees today, RMDs start at age 73. (The SECURE Act 2.0 raised the age from 72 in 2023, with another increase to age 75 scheduled for 2033.) Your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you turn 73. After that, RMDs are due by December 31 each year. The amount is calculated using your IRS life-expectancy factor and your prior-year December 31 account balance. We project the trajectory years in advance so you're not surprised when it arrives.
What's the penalty for missing an RMD?
It used to be 50% of the amount you should have withdrawn. SECURE Act 2.0 lowered it to 25%, and to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years. The penalty is steep enough that nearly every retiree gets the calculation right. The harder problem isn't avoiding the penalty. It's managing the cumulative tax impact of RMDs over 20+ years.
Can I reduce my RMDs?
Once you're in your 70s and RMDs have started, your options are narrower. The strongest reduction tools (Roth conversions, account consolidation) work best in the years before age 73. After RMDs begin, the main strategies are Qualified Charitable Distributions for charitable giving, careful timing of distributions to manage brackets, and coordination with capital gains and other income sources. The single best move is starting the planning early, when the most leverage is still available.
Take the Next Step
Start Building Your RMD Plan
Whether you're a decade away from your first RMD or already inside the distribution years, the right time to plan is before the next decision is made. The Chain Reaction Audit is where we start. One session, your situation, no obligation.
