One thing that makes most types of specialized retirement accounts so attractive is that investors don’t have to pay taxes on the money they contribute to them until they begin making withdrawals. However, those withdrawals are not entirely voluntary. Once an account holder reaches a certain age, they must make annual required minimum withdrawals (RMDs) on many retirement plans, including these:

• Traditional 401(k) plans
• Traditional 403(b) plans
• Traditional 457(b) plans
• Traditional IRAs
• Simplified Employee Pension plans (SEPs)
• Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension plans (SARSEPs)
• SIMPLE IRAs

The rules regarding those RMDs are occasionally tweaked, and four of them changed for 2025.

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1. RMDs start a little bit later than they used to

Under the Secure Act 2.0, passed in 2022, the mandatory age to begin taking RMDs was raised to 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959. Those who were born in 1960 or later will be able to wait to start taking their RMDs at 75.

For anyone who turned 73 in 2024, the first RMD should have been withdrawn by April 1, 2025, based on their Dec. 31, 2023, account balance. They’ll have to take their second RMD no later than Dec. 31, 2025.

2. There’s now a Roth 401(k) exemption

Like the Roth IRA, Roth 401(k)s and designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan are exempt from RMDs during the account holder’s lifetime, as of 2024. That said, beneficiaries are still bound to RMD rules if they inherit such accounts from the original worker.

3. Non-spouse beneficiaries face a couple of new rules

In past years, confusion about the rules for non-spouse beneficiaries of an inherited IRA and RMDs led the IRS to waive penalties for not taking them. That’s no longer the case. If the original account holder reached their RMD age before they died, non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit IRAs must take their annual RMDs or be penalized 25% of the amount they were supposed to withdraw. For example, a person who should have withdrawn $10,000 would be hit with a $2,500 penalty.

Such individuals can get a break if they take corrective measures to withdraw the missed RMD within two years. In such cases, the penalty they owe will generally be reduced to 10%.

In addition, most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty their inherited IRA account by the tenth year after the original account owner’s death. Exceptions to that 10-year rule are reserved for a surviving spouse, a disabled or chronically ill person, or a beneficiary who is no more than 10 years younger than the original account holder.

4. You can be quite generous

Those who are 70½ or older can satisfy their annual RMD by donating up to $108,000 from an IRA (but not a Roth IRA) to charity. That’s up from $105,000 in 2024. These qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) are ideal for retirees who don’t need the funds from their RMDs to help cover their bills. For married couples, each partner can contribute up to $108,000 for a joint total of $216,000 annually.

Apart from providing a way for retirees to support the charities they care about, a QCD can be a valuable tool in managing taxable income.

For the millions of older Americans who have invested through tax-advantaged retirement accounts, RMDs are a way of life. As long as they keep an eye on new RMD updates, they can continue to make seamless withdrawals.

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