Last reviewed 25 July 2026
SECURE 2.0 raised the age for required minimum distributions twice in one section. It reads as two conditions:
Work through a 1959 birth year and both are true. Born in 1959, you turn 72 in 2031 — after the first cut-off — and you turn 74 in 2033, after the second. The statute gives two answers to the same person. That is a conflict in the legislative text, not a question Congress weighed and chose to leave open.
Treasury noted the issue in the explanatory material accompanying the final regulations and reserved the corresponding paragraph, and the proposed regulations (REG-103529-23) would treat the 1959 cohort as 73. Note what that does and does not mean: the binding text in 26 CFR does not presently resolve this cohort. A preamble, a footnote, and a proposed rule are not the regulation.
The common phrasing is "the RMD age rises to 75 in 2033." That is a calendar-year framing, and the law is not written that way — it keys off when you were born, not what year it happens to be. The calendar framing hides the 1959 problem entirely, because it never asks which birth year you fall in.
| Born | RMD begins at | Settled? |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 or earlier | 72 | Yes |
| 1951–1958 | 73 | Yes |
| 1959 | 73 under the proposed rule | No — see above |
| 1960 or later | 75 | Yes |
If you were born in 1959 and you plan around age 75, and the rule is ultimately confirmed at 73, you will have missed two years of required withdrawals. The excise tax on taking less than required is 25% of the shortfall, reduced to 10% where the shortfall is corrected under the correction procedures of IRC §4974 — conditions that have to be met, not an automatic lower rate.
Planning around age 73 is not costless either. It may produce taxable distributions earlier than ultimately required, and a distribution you did not have to take can carry consequences beyond the income tax on it: a higher Medicare IRMAA tier two years later, a larger share of Social Security pulled into taxable income, effects on the net investment income tax, on the qualified business income deduction, on ACA premium credits, and on state income tax. What it generally avoids is the more serious consequence of failing to take a required distribution if 73 is ultimately confirmed.
That asymmetry — between an outcome that is expensive and an outcome that is mainly earlier — is why many practitioners treat 73 as the more conservative working assumption, even though it is the unresolved one.
Work out your own required withdrawal — it uses your birth date to pick the starting age, and flags the 1959 cohort as unsettled rather than quietly choosing for you. The same calculation is in the iPhone app.
Estimates and general information only — not tax, investment, or financial advice, and not a substitute for your own tax professional. Not affiliated with the IRS, the Social Security Administration, or any government agency. Because the treatment of individuals born in 1959 remains subject to future Treasury guidance or legislative correction, taxpayers should consult their own tax advisor before relying on a specific RMD starting age. Tax rules change; check figures against current official materials before acting on them.