Marry Someone More Than 10 Years Younger and the IRS Switches You to a Different Life Table. On a $2 Million IRA at 75 the Required Withdrawal Drops by Roughly $17,000 a Year, and the Spouse Has to Be the Sole Beneficiary
The IRS quietly rewards one unusual marital situation with a rule that can keep tens of thousands of dollars a year locked inside a retirement account instead of flowing out as taxable income, but a single word on your beneficiary…
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Most retirement rules penalize you for doing something. This one rewards you for marrying someone younger. If your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you and is the only beneficiary on your IRA, the IRS lets you figure required minimum distributions (RMDs) from a more generous life table. That means smaller forced withdrawals and smaller tax bills.
Take a $2 million IRA at age 75 and a spouse about 18 years younger. The required withdrawal falls from about $81,300 to about $64,300, so roughly $17,000 a year stays in the account and keeps growing tax-deferred. Everything depends on one word in the rule: sole.
Your Age Gap Decides Which IRS Table Sets Your RMD
Every traditional IRA owner figures an RMD the same way. You divide the account balance as of the close of business on December 31 of the preceding year by a factor from the IRS tables. Publication 590-B lists three: Table I (Single Life Expectancy), Table II (Joint and Last Survivor Life Expectancy), and Table III (Uniform Lifetime).
Most owners use Table III, which already assumes the beneficiary is about 10 years younger, whether or not you’re married. The exception is spelled out in the publication: “If the sole beneficiary of your IRA is your spouse and your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you, use the life expectancy from Table II.” Table II uses both of your ages, so the wider the gap, the bigger the divisor and the smaller the withdrawal.
Running the $2 Million Math at Age 75
Assumptions: the owner turns 75 in 2026, the IRA held $2 million on December 31, 2025, and the couple files jointly. The IRS’s own example sets the baseline. An owner turning 75 with a spouse turning 64 has a joint life and last survivor expectancy of 25.3, so a $100,000 balance produces an RMD of $3,953.
| Scenario (owner age 75) | Divisor | 2026 RMD on $2 Million |
|---|---|---|
| Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III) | 24.6 | $81,301 |
| Sole-beneficiary spouse, age 64 | 25.3 | $79,051 |
| Sole-beneficiary spouse, age 57 | 31.1 | $64,309 |
An 11-year gap saves only $2,250. With an 18-year gap, the RMD shrinks by $16,992.
If those dollars would have landed in the 24% bracket, which starts above $211,400 of taxable income for joint filers in 2026, the couple owes about $4,078 less federal tax this year. State savings depend on where you live.
One Word in the Rule Can Cost You the Smaller Withdrawal
Your spouse has to be the sole beneficiary. If you name your children as co-primary beneficiaries next to your spouse, even for a small share, you’re back on Table III.
The timing rules are strict too. Your marital status is determined as of January 1 of each year. A spouse named as beneficiary on that date will remain a beneficiary for the entire year even if you get divorced or your spouse dies during the year. But if you divorce and change the beneficiary form in the same year, your former spouse won’t be treated as the sole beneficiary for that year.
Smaller RMDs Today Can Mean Bigger Tax Bills Later
Deferring a withdrawal only postpones the tax. Every dollar you leave in the account keeps growing and eventually comes out as ordinary income, taxed either to you in later years or to your younger spouse after you die. A spouse who inherits can generally roll the account into their own IRA and restart RMDs based on their own age.
A lower RMD also keeps modified adjusted gross income down. That can keep you under a Medicare IRMAA tier two years later and reduce how much of your Social Security is taxable. The sole-beneficiary rule is one of nine IRS rules that quietly drain retirement accounts, and we mapped the rest in a free guide here. Couples sitting in the 12% bracket may still want to withdraw more than the minimum on purpose. One trade-off: if you take more than required, you won’t receive credit for the additional amount toward future RMDs.
The starting age is moving, too. Under current law, the applicable age is 73 for people reaching 73 before January 1, 2033, and 75 for anyone who attains age 74 after December 31, 2032.
Three Moves to Make Before Your Next RMD
- Check the beneficiary form. Your spouse should be the only primary beneficiary, and the form should be current as of January 1.
- Confirm your custodian is using Table II. Ask your custodian which table its RMD calculation uses.
- Recalculate every year. The Table II factor comes from where your age as of your birthday in 2026 intersects with your spouse’s age, so it changes each year.
Whether to take the smaller RMD or deliberately withdraw more depends on your brackets now and later. Run those numbers with a CPA or fiduciary advisor before year-end.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Vilma Rios is a tax professional and tax content contributor with more than 15 years of experience in tax and accounting. She specializes in federal tax research, tax education, and translating complex tax rules into clear, practical information for individuals, families, and small-business owners.
Vilma is a Content Tax Contributor II with the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), where she contributes to tax education and professional content. She has also presented tax information through webinars, including Spanish-language tax education, and has appeared on Telemundo 47 discussing tax topics and helping viewers understand important tax-filing requirements.
Her experience also includes tax and accounting work, tax research, IRS-related matters, and public tax education. While in college, Vilma volunteered in an IRS-sponsored tax assistance program and was recognized for her community service by local and state officials.
Known as “Your Tax Geek,” Vilma is passionate about making taxes easier to understand and helping people navigate an increasingly complex tax system.
