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The total you must withdraw is the same either way. What changes is when you pay the tax, which charitable options remain available, and how the money is paid into your account.
Monthly suits a retiree living on the money, because it works like a paycheck
One late distribution may suit some retirees, because sufficient withholding can replace quarterly estimates
Neither suits a charitable giver with automatic withdrawals, because the QCD has to come first
Is it better to take RMD monthly or annually? The amount is the same either way. The required amount is set by your December 31 balance and your age.
Three things do change:
Where we stop. How much you have to take, at what age, and what happens if you miss it are separate questions with their own pages.
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| Schedule | Suits you when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | The RMD is your living expenses | A later QCD may not satisfy the RMD |
| One distribution late in the year | Other income pays your spending | Allow custodian processing time before December 31 |
| One distribution early in the year | You want it done and off your mind | The money leaves the account for the full year |
There is no single best time to take RMD. Monthly is a cash flow answer. Late in the year can be a tax answer. Early gives you one less thing to track, and it ends tax deferred growth on the amount withdrawn.
Estimated payments are credited when you make them. Withheld tax is treated as paid evenly across the year, whenever it was withheld.
Withholding is dated differently from a payment
So a retiree who has made no quarterly payments can take the RMD in December, have the custodian withhold enough to cover the year’s tax, and meet the safe harbor. The distribution has to be large enough to cover the withholding you elect.
The custodian withholds 10 percent by default on an IRA distribution paid on demand. You choose a different rate, from 0 to 100 percent, on Form W-4R, and the 2026 form is the one to use. A payment delivered outside the United States cannot go below 10 percent, and a missing or wrong Social Security number fixes withholding at 10 percent.
The federal safe harbor is generally the smaller of two amounts: 90 percent of this year’s tax, or 100 percent of last year’s. The prior year figure rises to 110 percent where prior year adjusted gross income was above 150,000 dollars, or 75,000 filing separately.
The 90 percent prong can matter when this year’s tax is lower. Compare both safe harbor amounts before choosing, because paying 110 percent of prior year tax may require more cash.
Three practical limits:
Some custodians cap how much they will withhold.
Some will not withhold state tax.
State safe harbor percentages and thresholds differ from the federal ones, so meeting the federal safe harbor does not mean meeting your state’s.
The first dollars out count toward the required amount. A qualified charitable distribution is available from age 70½, tested on the transfer date, and the limit for 2026 is 111,000 dollars per IRA owner.
Your first RMD can be deferred to April 1 of the following year; for someone who turns 73 in 2026 that is April 1, 2027, with the second due by December 31, 2027. Two in one tax year can push you into a higher bracket, so deferring can cost more than taking the first in 2026.
Where you are still employed and do not own more than 5 percent of the business, the workplace plan can often wait, while an IRA cannot.
If monthly withdrawals satisfy the RMD first, a later qualified charitable distribution is still tax free, but it cannot undo the taxable distributions you already took.
The decision is one conversation and holds for years. Where a custodian will not withhold state tax, or the numbers are close to a bracket edge, model it before you set the schedule.
Tell us what else you have coming in and whether you give to charity; the answer turns on those two facts.
Send last year’s return and a list of your retirement accounts and other income.
We work out the safe harbor number and whether withholding alone can meet it for the year.
We check the charitable and first year questions before any schedule is set.
You set the instruction with the custodian, and we tell you the withholding percentage to elect.
We work with clients in all 50 states by video and phone.
An in kind RMD distribution, where shares move to a taxable account in place of cash, keeps the position invested. Withholding may then require selling part of the position or taking separate cash.
A timing review is usually folded into the return. A standalone projection is quoted as specialist time. These are the factors, not a quote.
A change we make often. A retiree comes in taking monthly withdrawals with no withholding, paying quarterly estimates by hand and missing one or two a year.
Moving to a single December distribution with sufficient withholding can replace four estimated tax deadlines and cut the underpayment risk, in one instruction to the custodian.
Anytime you have a major change in your situation, whether it’s your family situation, whether it’s your work, whether it’s income or source of income, you want to speak with the tax advisor and make sure that everything that you’re doing now continues to make sense in the future.
Since my CPA retired a few years ago I’ve looked around for a reputable, reliable service to take her place. So glad and satisfied to have landed on Dimov. They are reliable, thorough, communicative.
Our team includes CPAs and Enrolled Agents who work on individual returns, business taxes and tax planning. Tell us what you need help with when you get in touch.
If you are asking is it better to take RMD monthly or annually, you are asking a question that gets answered once at the custodian and then stands for years. Ten minutes with a CPA comes first.
General rules only, not advice on your situation. The right schedule turns on facts we have not seen, so speak to a CPA or an Enrolled Agent before setting one.
