When It Comes to Your RMDs, Be Very, Very Afraid!

Editor’s note: This is part two of a seven-part series on retirement tax bombs. It dives more deeply into how required minimum distributions (RMDs) from tax-deferred savings can become a snowballing tax liability in retirement.  If you missed the introductory article, you may find it helpful to start here.

For the remaining articles in this series, I’ll use a case study of a couple aged 40 who has saved $500,000 combined in pre-tax retirement accounts. Presumably, this couple is tracking well for a secure retirement. After maxing out their retirement plan contributions, they may not have much cash flow left over and may feel like they’re barely making ends meet. I meet couples like this all time. They aren’t rich, they’re simply good savers doing exactly what conventional wisdom has taught them to do.

The couple keeps making the maximum contribution each year ($20,500 each through age 49, then $27,000 from age 50 to 64, which are the current maximums), and each get a $6,000 employer match. I assume contribution limits rise by 2% annually. The couple’s contributions are in growth allocations that earn an annual 7% return. By the time they retire on their 65th birthdays, their retirement accounts will have grown to an impressive $7.3 million! They’re in great shape, right?

Snowballing RMD Income

For simplicity, let’s assume they don’t draw down their pre-tax savings early in retirement, so their tax-deferred savings grows to about $11.9 million by age 72, when they must take their first RMD, which is $435,820. The RMD is 100% taxable, at their ordinary income rate, and by itself may put them in a high tax bracket. As you can see in the chart below, the RMD grows to $533,818 at age 75, $739,569 at age 80, $1 million at age 85 and $1.3 million at age 90. 

The RMD income dwarfs their annual Social Security income, which I assume at $36,000 each at age 67, with a 2.0% annual cost of living adjustment.

Most people assume their taxable income in retirement will be very low because they’re not working, and will be receiving only Social Security benefits and perhaps some interest and dividend income. But clearly, if you’ve saved a lot in tax-deferred accounts, your RMD income can be frighteningly large. Meet your retirement tax bomb.

Source: Courtesy of David McClellan

Even though the couple would take $15.6 million in total RMDs from age 72 to 90, their tax liability keeps growing, although at a decreasing rate as the RMDs gets larger. It’s not until age 89 that the RMD exceeds the projected portfolio growth and the tax liability starts shrinking.

Future Tax Rates

As scary as this sounds, think about where future tax rates may be headed. Current tax rates are near historical lows and may be the lowest we'll see for the rest of our lives. Consider solvency issues with Social Security and Medicare, chronic infrastructure issues, exploding deficits, climate change and pandemics. Each of these issues in isolation will require a lot of money to solve. And that doesn't even account for potential policy changes that would tax the wealthy more.

Simply put, paying taxes at today’s low rates may be a bargain compared to deferring, and growing, your tax liabilities into the future. 

My next article will focus on problem No. 2: Medicare means testing surcharges. 

• Part 1: Is Your Retirement Portfolio a Tax Bomb?
• Part 2: When It Comes to Your RMDs, Be Very, Very Afraid!
• Part 3: RMDs Can Trigger Massive Medicare Means Testing Surcharges
• Part 4: Will Your Kids Inherit a Tax Bomb from You?
• Part 5: How to Defuse a Retirement Tax Bomb, Starting With 1 Simple Move
• Part 6: Using Asset Location to Defuse a Retirement Tax Bomb 
• Part 7: Roth Conversions Play Key Role in Defusing a Retirement Tax Bomb