A Couple Who Retires at 60 With $580,000 Between His 401(k) and Her IRA and Lives on Her State Pension for 13 Years Will Face About $41,000 of RMDs at 73, on Top of the Pension

A married couple retires at 60 with $580,000 split between his 401(k) and her traditional IRA. They live on her state pension and leave both accounts untouched until required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin at 73. This case shows how large those mandatory withdrawals become after 13 years of growth, and how they stack on top of pension income.

Where $580,000 Sits Against What Most Savers Hold

Vanguard’s most recent figures put the average 401(k) balance at $148,153 and the median at $38,176. The median is closer to what a typical participant actually holds, since a small number of very large accounts pull the average well above the center of the distribution. Transamerica’s survey puts median household retirement savings for Baby Boomers at $270,000. By either measure, the couple in this case is well ahead of a typical household near retirement, and that head start is precisely the reason a tax question surfaces later.

How $580,000 Turns Into a $41,000 Withdrawal

An RMD equals the account balance on the prior December 31 divided by a factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At 73, that factor is 26.5. If both spouses are the same age, they each use the same factor and the combined total comes out the same as calculating the two accounts separately and adding the results.

At 5% annual growth with no withdrawals, $580,000 reaches about $1.09 million after 13 years. Dividing by 26.5 produces a first-year RMD of roughly $41,000.

A Small Change in Growth Moves the RMD by Thousands

The $41,000 figure depends entirely on the growth assumption. At 4% annual growth, the first RMD falls to about $36,443. At 6%, it climbs to roughly $46,683. A two-point swing in returns shifts the required withdrawal by close to $10,000, which illustrates how sensitive the outcome is to portfolio allocation during those quiet years.

The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.24% on October 9, 2026, sitting close to the 5% scenario. The yield has remained elevated throughout October, hovering near 5.1% in mid-month trading. By contrast, a couple keeping everything in cash-equivalent instruments at the FDIC national average 12-month CD rate of 1.76% would face a first RMD of only about $27,000.

Adding the RMD on Top of the Pension

RMDs from pre-tax accounts count as ordinary income, and that is the core tension this scenario illustrates. For married couples filing jointly in 2026, the standard deduction is $32,200, and the 12% bracket covers taxable income from $24,801 up to $100,800. A pension of up to about $91,000, combined with a $41,000 RMD, can still keep the couple inside the 12% bracket, though that ceiling depends on how much of the pension is taxable and whether Social Security income is also in the picture.

At 12%, federal tax on a $41,000 RMD comes to about $4,920. If a larger pension pushes the household into the 22% bracket, the tax on that same withdrawal rises to about $9,020. Couples who are both 65 or older in 2026 can also claim an additional standard deduction of $1,650 per qualifying spouse, which effectively raises their income threshold before taxable income begins. Bracket thresholds are adjusted for inflation each year, so the exact dividing lines 13 years from now will look different, but the structural problem stays the same.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts average annual household spending at $78,535 in 2024. A pension that covers normal living costs on its own makes the RMD income something the couple must receive and pay tax on, regardless of whether they need the money.

Birth Year Can Push the Start Date Past 73

The age-73 start applies to people born from 1951 through 1959. Under SECURE 2.0, the start age moves to 75 for anyone born in 1960 or later. A couple turning 60 today was born in 1966 and falls squarely into the later group, gaining two additional years of tax-deferred growth before the first withdrawal is required. That extension also means two more years of compounding, so the first RMD will be larger than the 73-year-old scenario described above.

What the 13 Quiet Years Mean for the Tax Bill

Between age 60 and the first RMD, the couple’s taxable income may be little more than the pension. Some households use this window to take partial withdrawals or make Roth conversions while sitting in a lower bracket, the same strategy covered in a free guide on defusing the first-year RMD tax bill before it arrives. Money converted to a Roth no longer counts toward future RMDs. Others leave the accounts to grow and accept a larger mandatory withdrawal later.

The mechanics are the same either way. The balance compounds, the IRS factor converts it into a required withdrawal, and the pension sets the income floor that withdrawal is added to. For this couple at a 5% return, roughly $41,000 of extra taxable income arrives each year starting at 73. Pension size, investment returns, and future bracket changes will together determine how much of it goes to taxes.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the FDIC national average 12-month CD rate of 1.76% as of October 2026, the current 2026 federal tax brackets for married couples filing jointly (12% bracket to $100,800, standard deduction of $32,200), and the additional standard deduction of $1,650 per qualifying spouse for those 65 and older.

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