Updated: September 1, 2026

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The Required Minimum Distribution age for the Thrift Savings Plan has changed twice in the last five years. The original Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 pushed the trigger age from 70 and a half to 72. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 then moved it again to 73, and set a further step to 75 for a younger cohort.

This page documents the current-law mechanics for a TSP participant: the two RMD ages that apply today, the required beginning date, and the December 31 deadlines that follow. It also covers how TSP automates the calculation and payout, and the excise tax that applies to a missed distribution. Editorial only, no advice on strategy.

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The two current TSP RMD ages: 73 or 75, depending on your birth year

Under Section 107 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-328), the RMD starting age depends on the year the participant was born. Federal participants born in 1951 through 1959 use age 73 as the first-RMD trigger. Participants born in 1960 or later use age 75.

The statute is codified at Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(9)(C), which sets the Required Beginning Date rules for all qualified plans, including the TSP. The IRS publishes the operating detail in its RMD FAQ and in Publication 590-B.

Both TSP traditional balances and pre-2024 Roth TSP balances counted toward these RMD rules. Starting in 2024, Roth balances inside employer plans (including the TSP) were removed from the RMD calculation under SECURE 2.0 Section 325. The Roth exemption is covered in its own section below.

Your required beginning date and the December 31 deadlines that follow

The Required Beginning Date is April 1 of the year after the year the participant reaches RMD age. A federal retiree who turns 73 in a given year has until April 1 of the following year to take that first RMD. This grace period applies only to the first distribution.

Every subsequent RMD is due by December 31 of its own calendar year. That is a hard deadline, with no April 1 push. The account balance used to compute each year’s RMD is the December 31 balance of the prior year, divided by the Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for the participant’s age at year end.

Using the April 1 deferral for the first RMD moves that distribution into the same calendar year as the second RMD, so two taxable distributions land in one tax year. That mechanic and the second-order effects on Medicare IRMAA and Social Security taxation are documented in the April 1 first-RMD rule and the double tax year trap.

How TSP calculates and pays your RMD automatically

TSP does not leave the RMD to the participant. The plan calculates the annual RMD amount for each account and tracks how much the participant has already withdrawn during the year. If the participant has not otherwise met the required amount, TSP pays out the missing portion by default in December.

The automatic top-up is documented in the TSP booklet Distributions from Your Thrift Savings Plan Account. TSP pays the shortfall from the participant’s account allocations pro rata across the funds held in that account.

Participants who have already met the RMD through installment payments, partial withdrawals, or transfers-out earlier in the year do not receive an additional December payment. The plan measures the total amount withdrawn against the calculated RMD and only pays the difference.

The Uniform Lifetime Table: divisors and a worked example

The Uniform Lifetime Table sits in Appendix B of IRS Publication 590-B and in the underlying regulation at 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9. Each age carries a distribution period expressed in years. Divide the prior year-end balance by that divisor to get the RMD.

The divisor falls each year, so the required percentage of the balance grows over time. Verify the current divisor in the published table before running any actual calculation. The numbers here reflect the version of the table effective for 2022 and later distribution years.

Bar chart showing IRS Uniform Lifetime Table distribution periods in years at selected ages used to compute Thrift Savings Plan required minimum distributions. Age 73 divisor is 26.5, age 75 is 24.6, age 78 is 22.0, age 80 is 20.2, age 82 is 18.5, age 85 is 16.0, age 88 is 13.7, and age 90 is 12.2. The divisor falls with age, so the required percentage of the prior year end balance grows over time. Source: IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B. — Figure 1. Uniform Lifetime Table distribution periods at selected TSP RMD ages. Divide the prior December 31 balance by the divisor to get the RMD. At a $400,000 balance and age 73 the divisor 26.5 produces a first RMD of $15,094. Source: IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B; 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9.

Illustrative example: a $400,000 traditional TSP balance at age 73

Assume a federal retiree turns 73 in a given year with a $400,000 traditional TSP balance on December 31 of the prior year. The Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for age 73 is 26.5. The first RMD is $400,000 divided by 26.5, which is $15,094 (rounded to the nearest dollar).

This figure is illustrative. Real TSP balances vary widely; verify the current divisor and use the actual prior year-end balance for any specific calculation. The IRS FAQ and Publication 590-B both walk through the formula step by step.

RMDs cannot be rolled over, and what happens on a total rollover request

The RMD portion of a TSP balance in an RMD year is not eligible for rollover. That rule is documented at page 11 of the TSP booklet Distributions from Your Thrift Savings Plan Account. It also flows from IRC section 402(c) and section 401(a)(9), and is repeated in IRS Publication 590-A.

If a participant in an RMD year requests a full transfer of the TSP balance to an IRA or another eligible employer plan, TSP first removes the RMD portion and pays it directly to the participant. The remaining balance is then rolled over to the destination the participant designated.

The eligible destinations for the non-RMD portion include a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA (subject to Roth conversion rules), another qualified employer plan that accepts rollovers, and a self-directed IRA holding IRS-approved metals under IRC 408(m)(3). Each destination has its own rules for later distributions.

Roth TSP is no longer subject to RMDs starting 2024

Section 325 of the SECURE 2.0 Act removed Roth balances inside employer plans from the RMD calculation, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2023. That change put Roth TSP on the same footing as Roth IRAs for the original account owner’s lifetime RMD rules.

Under prior law, Roth TSP balances counted toward the participant’s RMD. Starting in 2024, the RMD is computed from the traditional TSP balance alone. A participant with both traditional and Roth TSP balances now sees only the traditional portion feed the annual RMD figure.

Beneficiary rules for inherited Roth accounts were not changed by Section 325. Post-death RMDs on an inherited Roth TSP still apply under the general beneficiary rules of IRC section 401(a)(9)(B) and the SECURE Act 10-year framework.

The still-working exception, and why it rarely helps a federal RMD

The Internal Revenue Code lets an employee who is still actively working, and who does not own more than 5 percent of the employer, defer the RMD from that current-employer plan past the standard age. This is the still-working exception at IRC section 401(a)(9)(C)(i)(II).

For TSP the 5 percent owner test is a non-issue. Federal employees do not own the federal government. The active-service requirement is what limits the exception. A retired or separated federal employee no longer meets the still-working condition, so the TSP RMD starts at the age set by SECURE 2.0.

A federal employee still on the rolls at RMD age can defer the TSP RMD until April 1 of the year after separation. Once separated, the standard timing applies. Older prior-employer accounts held elsewhere follow their own plan rules and are not sheltered by continued federal service.

The excise tax for a missed RMD: 25 percent, or 10 percent if corrected in time

Internal Revenue Code section 4974 imposes an excise tax on the amount of an RMD that the participant fails to take by the deadline. The rate was 50 percent for many years. SECURE 2.0 Section 302 cut the rate to 25 percent for missed RMDs after December 31, 2022.

The same section added a further reduction to 10 percent if the participant corrects the shortfall within the correction window and files an amended return. The correction window generally ends on the earlier of the date the IRS issues a notice of deficiency or the second calendar year after the missed year.

The excise tax is reported on Form 5329, and the taxpayer may request a waiver by showing the shortfall was due to reasonable error and steps have been taken to correct it. The IRS RMD FAQ covers the reporting mechanics, and Publication 590-B covers the waiver criteria in detail.

The TSP automatic top-up in December is designed to prevent a missed RMD for participants who leave the calculation to the plan. A participant who initiates only partial withdrawals during the year and stays inside the TSP typically avoids the excise tax by default. Updated September 1, 2026.

TSP Required Minimum Distributions Under SECURE 2.0: Age 73 or 75