Retirees, Should You Take RMDs Early in the Year or Wait?

When you take your RMD—early, late, or in installments—can impact taxes, returns, and risk.

Timing your RMD isn’t trivial—it can affect growth, taxes, and financial flexibility. Hadayeva Sviatlana/Shutterstock

Within a given year, is there any advantage to taking your required minimum distributions as soon as you can, or taking it down to the wire and pulling the distribution in late December? Or is it better to take monthly or quarterly withdrawals?

Here are three timing approaches to consider, along with the pros and cons of each.

Option 1: Wait Until Year-End

Why consider it: It’s not a huge advantage over a lifetime of savings, but the main advantage of delaying until later in the year is a bit of extra tax-deferred compounding.