The SECURE Act Changes and Your IRA

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TL;DR: SECURE 2.0 pushed the age at which a traditional IRA owner must start required minimum distributions to 73, and that age is scheduled to rise again to 75 on January 1, 2033. The required beginning date for a first RMD falls on April 1 of the year after the owner reaches 73. Roth IRAs carry no lifetime RMD for the original owner. A precious-metals IRA follows the same RMD math as any other traditional IRA, and the distribution can generally be satisfied in cash or with the physical metal itself, since custody rules require the metal to stay with an approved custodian until it is actually distributed.

What SECURE 2.0 changed about the RMD age

The core change is simple to state: the age at which a traditional IRA owner must begin required minimum distributions moved from 72 to 73, and current law schedules a further move to 75.

Congress enacted SECURE 2.0 as Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, and one of its most consequential provisions for IRA owners rewrote the RMD start age under section 401(a)(9)(C) of the tax code. The Internal Revenue Service states plainly that an account owner “generally must start taking withdrawals from your traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and retirement plan accounts when you reach age 73.” That is current law as of this writing, not a projection. Anyone who turned 72 before 2023 was already on the old schedule and stayed there. Anyone who reaches 73 under the current rules follows the age-73 start date until the next scheduled increase takes effect.

The required beginning date: when the clock actually starts

A first RMD does not have to come out the year an owner turns 73. It can be delayed, once, to April 1 of the following calendar year, a date the IRS calls the required beginning date.

IRS Notice 2023-23 sets this out directly: for an IRA owner who reaches age 73 before January 1, 2033, the required beginning date is “April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the individual attains age 73.” Delaying that first distribution has a real cost worth understanding before choosing it. An owner who waits until April 1 of the following year still owes the second year’s RMD by December 31 of that same year, so two distributions land in one tax year. That can push a filer into a higher bracket for that year alone. Every RMD after the first one is still due by December 31 of its own calendar year, with no extension available.

Why the age keeps moving: the phased SECURE 2.0 timeline

SECURE 2.0 did not set one new RMD age. It set a schedule, and the schedule has one more step still ahead of it.

That schedule runs in two legislated steps: the increase to 73 already in effect since 2023, and a further increase to 75 set for January 1, 2033. Both dates come from the same IRS notice cited above. The practical effect for most current IRA owners is that age 73 is the number that matters today, while anyone who will not turn 73 until on or after the 2033 threshold should plan around the higher age instead. This is a legislated calendar change, not an inflation adjustment, so it will not shift again on its own before 2033 absent new legislation.

Roth IRAs: no lifetime RMD for the original owner

A Roth IRA sits outside this entire RMD framework while the original owner is alive. There is no age at which a Roth owner is forced to start withdrawing.

The same IRS guidance on required minimum distributions confirms that Roth IRAs are not subject to lifetime RMDs for the original account owner. That distinction is one of the clearest planning differences between a traditional and a Roth structure. A traditional IRA owner is forced onto a withdrawal schedule at 73 regardless of whether the money is needed that year. A Roth owner can leave the account untouched for as long as they live, letting it continue growing tax-free. The rules that apply after the original owner’s death are a separate, more detailed topic, and this page does not attempt to cover them.

The 2026 contribution limits: a separate track from the RMD changes

Contribution limits move on their own annual schedule, separate from the RMD age, and 2026 brought an increase to both the base limit and the catch-up amount.

The IRS announced in IR-2025-111 that the IRA contribution limit rises to $7,500 for 2026, up from $7,000, and the age-50 catch-up contribution rises to $1,100 for 2026, the first increase to that catch-up figure in several years. Both numbers are governed by Notice 2025-67. These limits apply across traditional and Roth IRAs combined, and contributions in every case remain capped at the account owner’s taxable compensation for the year. None of this changes the RMD-age rules above. Contribution limits and distribution rules are governed by separate parts of the tax code on different tracks: the annual contribution limit moves with a routine cost-of-living adjustment, while the RMD age changed through SECURE 2.0.

What an RMD means for a precious-metals IRA

A self-directed IRA holding physical gold or silver follows the identical RMD age and required-beginning-date rules as any other traditional IRA. The only added wrinkle is how the distribution itself gets satisfied.

Under 26 U.S.C. § 408, an IRA trustee must be a bank or an entity the IRS has approved as a nonbank custodian, and IRS-eligible precious metals inside the account must stay in that custodian’s possession, typically at a third-party depository, rather than in the owner’s own hands. That custody requirement does not disappear once an RMD becomes due. In practice, a custodian generally offers two ways to satisfy the distribution: liquidate enough of the metal and distribute the proceeds in cash, or distribute the coins or bars themselves as an in-kind transfer, at which point the metal leaves the custodian’s control and becomes the owner’s personal property, taxed as ordinary income at its value on the distribution date. The mechanics and any processing fees for either option are set by the individual custodian, and an account owner should confirm both the timeline and the paperwork with their custodian well before the December 31 deadline.

Other SECURE 2.0 provisions this page does not cover

SECURE 2.0 is a large law, and the RMD-age change described above is only one piece of it. Two other pieces that come up often, the 10-year payout rule for many inherited IRAs and new Roth requirements for certain high-income catch-up contributions, are outside what this page confirms.

Readers researching those two topics should treat anything not cited above as a separate research question, not an extension of the rules explained here. This page sticks to what is directly confirmed for the RMD start age, the required beginning date, and the Roth exemption, because getting those details wrong carries a real tax cost.

FAQ

What age do I need to start taking RMDs from my traditional IRA? Age 73 under current law, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That age is scheduled to rise to 75 starting January 1, 2033.

When exactly is my required beginning date? April 1 of the calendar year after the year you turn 73, per IRS Notice 2023-23. Every RMD after the first one is due by December 31 of its own year.

Do Roth IRAs have required minimum distributions? Not for the original owner during their lifetime. That exemption is confirmed in the same IRS RMD guidance cited above.

Can I take my precious-metals IRA’s RMD in physical gold instead of cash? Generally yes, as an in-kind distribution of the coins or bars, or the custodian can liquidate metal and distribute cash instead. Confirm the process, timing, and any fees with your specific custodian, since those details are set by the custodian rather than by statute.

Does SECURE 2.0 change anything else I should know about? Yes. It also touches inherited-IRA payout timing and catch-up contribution rules for higher earners, among other provisions. Those are outside the scope of what this page confirms, so treat them as a separate question for your tax professional.

This page is educational and does not constitute tax, legal, or investment advice. Always weigh these rules against your own plan, and consult your own tax and financial professionals before acting on an RMD deadline.