Will a 75 Year Old With $700,000 Have Enough to Live to 95?

Retirees who have started required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their IRAs naturally worry if the money will last for their full retirement. The fear is real, but the arithmetic is more forgiving than most people might assume.

A 75-year-old woman has a roughly 12-year life expectancy, and one in four women age 65 will reach 90. Planning to 95 isn’t crazy.

Consider a single woman, age 75, with $700,000 in a traditional IRA and nothing else of consequence outside Social Security. Let’s assume she started RMDs two years ago at age 73. Her current annual draw includes RMD of about $28,455 plus roughly $20,000 for living expenses. If she lives to 95, the percentage the IRS forces her to pull out every year keeps climbing, even as the account shrinks.

Why RMDs Get Worse Before They Get Better

At 75, the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table divisor is 24.6, which works out to roughly 4% of the account. By age 90, the required percentage climbs to about 8.8%. By 95, the divisor drops to 8.9, forcing out more than 11% of whatever remains. The mandated withdrawal rate accelerates exactly when the portfolio has the least cushion to absorb a bad market year. That is the late-retirement sequence risk to be mindful of.

Let’s run the numbers for our hypothetical case. With a 6% net-of-fees return and a total annual draw near $48,455, year one ends around $693,545. Growth slightly outpaces withdrawals in the early years. By age 95, the balance settles around $400,000 to $500,000, with RMDs in the $50,000 to $56,000 range.

But is a 6% return realistic? With the 10-year Treasury near 4.6% and the 30-year just over 5%, a balanced portfolio can plausibly clear that bar. Inflation is the real opponent. CPI has climbed roughly 8% since early 2024, and core PCE sits at the 90th percentile of its recent range. A static $48,000 draw buys meaningfully less in 2036 than today.

Three Moves That Could Move the Needle

1. Qualified Charitable Distributions. If she gives to charity at all, this is the single most powerful tool she has. Up to $108,000 per year in 2026 can flow directly from the IRA to a qualified charity, satisfying the RMD without adding a dollar to taxable income. Even $5,000 a year in QCDs replaces $5,000 of taxable RMD, trimming her tax bill and potentially reducing the IRMAA surcharge on Medicare premiums.
2. Asset location inside the IRA. Bonds belong here, equities tilt toward any taxable account she opens with surplus RMDs. Holding the 5% 30-year Treasury or a bond ladder inside the IRA suppresses growth that would otherwise compound future RMDs.
3. A QLAC for longevity insurance. She can move up to $210,000 into a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract, deferring RMDs on that slice until age 85. The dollars carved off are removed from the RMD calculation today, and the annuity guarantees income if she does reach the long tail. With the fed funds rate near 4%, down from 4.5% a year ago, payout rates are softer than they were, so price-shop carefully.

Roth conversions in her 60s would have helped. At 75, the window has mostly closed: conversions now would spike her current-year taxes against a shorter payoff horizon.

Potential Action Steps

Evaluate charitable intent first. If she donates anything to a church, alumni group, or food bank, redirect every dollar of it through QCDs starting with this year’s RMD. The paperwork is a one-page custodian form.

Consider resetting the portfolio so bonds and cash sit inside the IRA and any growth-oriented holdings sit outside it.

Overall, run the numbers and be confident in your plan. Avoid slashing spending out of panic and arriving at 95 with money she could have enjoyed at 80.