Required Minimum Distributions in Wichita, KS: What You Need to Know
If you've spent decades contributing to a 401(k) or traditional IRA, you already know the money goes in tax-deferred. What catches a lot of Wichita retirees off guard is what happens when the IRS comes to collect — and when they make you withdraw whether you want to or not.
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are the mandatory annual withdrawals the federal government requires once you reach a certain age. Get them wrong and you're looking at steep penalties. Ignore the recent rule changes and you may be pulling money out on the wrong timeline entirely.
Here's what you actually need to know.
What Are Required Minimum Distributions?
An RMD is the minimum amount you must withdraw from most tax-deferred retirement accounts each year after reaching a specific age. The IRS uses a formula based on your account balance and a life expectancy factor from their Uniform Lifetime Table to calculate what you owe.
Accounts subject to RMDs typically include:
- Traditional IRAs
- SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
- 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans
- Inherited IRAs (rules differ — more on that below)
Roth IRAs are the notable exception. Roth accounts are funded with after-tax dollars, so there's no RMD requirement during the original owner's lifetime. That distinction matters a lot when you're thinking about tax strategy in retirement.
SECURE 2.0 Changed the Starting Age — Here's Where Things Stand
The original SECURE Act pushed the RMD starting age from 70½ to 72. Then SECURE 2.0, passed in late 2022, moved it again:
- Age 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959
- Age 75 if you were born in 1960 or later
This is a meaningful shift. If you turned 72 in 2023 and assumed you needed to take a distribution, you may have gotten a one-year reprieve. If you haven't confirmed your actual start date based on your birth year, that's worth sorting out now — ideally with a fiduciary financial advisor in Wichita who can walk through your specific accounts and timeline.
SECURE 2.0 also changed the penalty for missed RMDs from 50% to 25% (and down to 10% if corrected promptly), which is still painful but less catastrophic than before.
How Kansas Taxes RMDs
Federal taxes on RMDs are straightforward: they're treated as ordinary income. Kansas is a bit more nuanced.
Kansas taxes most retirement income, including traditional IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, at the state income tax rate. However, Kansas does exempt Social Security benefits from state income tax — a relevant detail when you're thinking about how all your income streams interact.
Some pension income (particularly from certain public employee pension systems) may also qualify for partial or full exemption, but private retirement account withdrawals generally do not. For Wichita retirees pulling RMDs from traditional accounts, state tax is a real cost to factor into your withdrawal strategy.
This is one reason why the how much you withdraw question matters just as much as the when question.
Strategies to Reduce Your RMD Tax Burden
RMDs aren't fully avoidable, but you have more control over the tax impact than most people realize. A few approaches worth considering:
Roth Conversions Before RMDs Begin
If you have a gap between retirement and your RMD start age, converting traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA during those lower-income years can reduce the balance subject to future RMDs. You pay tax now at a potentially lower rate in exchange for tax-free growth and no future distribution requirements on the converted amount.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
If you're 70½ or older and charitably inclined, you can transfer up to $105,000 per year (2024 limit, indexed going forward) directly from your IRA to a qualified charity. This counts toward your RMD but is excluded from your taxable income — a clean way to give without inflating your tax bracket.
Strategic Withdrawal Timing
RMDs stack on top of Social Security and any other income. Planning the sequence and size of withdrawals — including whether to take distributions in a particular calendar year — can keep you out of higher tax brackets and reduce Medicare IRMAA surcharges.
Delay Social Security Where Possible
Combining a Roth conversion strategy with delayed Social Security can significantly reduce the total tax drag over your retirement years. Less taxable income during your conversion window, larger tax-free Social Security benefit later.
Inherited IRA Rules Are Different
If you inherited an IRA after 2019, the 10-year rule generally applies — meaning the account must be fully distributed within 10 years of the original owner's death. There are exceptions for surviving spouses, minor children, and certain disabled individuals, but most non-spouse beneficiaries are now working under a compressed timeline that requires careful planning.
Working With a Local Advisor in Wichita
RMD planning sits at the intersection of tax strategy, investment management, and long-term income planning. Getting it right isn't just about knowing the rules — it's about knowing how those rules interact with your specific accounts, income sources, and retirement goals.
The team at StewardRight works with Wichita-area retirees and pre-retirees to build retirement income plans that account for RMD timing, tax exposure, and distribution sequencing. Whether you're years away or already taking distributions, the earlier you plan, the more options you have.
Schedule a conversation today and let's look at what your required minimum distributions actually mean for your retirement — and what you can do about them.