Aug 25, 2026 · 15 min · 12 segments
One retiree's first required minimum distribution added $42,000 to his tax bill, raising a question many savers never see coming. In this episode, Lawrence Kiely & Katherine Groce discuss how RMDs can…
Catherine GrossGuestSavvy Investor HostHost
Lawrence KielyGuestthought it was a great idea in the 80s when they kind of introduced it.
I remember being right there, Catherine, because I was in a job where there was no pension.
So then I thought, oh, they're going to give me this thing that I can control, that I can put money into.
I can make my decisions and I can say when I want to take this money out.
Seemed like a great idea.
And now we are all in our 60s and 70s, and we see a little downside to this.
We tried to get that money out.
I got a story for you.
This is a 73-year-old man who is taking his very first RMD, his very first required minimum distribution.
He has $3 million, so he's been a really good saver.
Well, here's what happened to him.
The amount that he had to take out was $120,000.
That put him into a higher tax bracket.
It also put him over the Irma line.
All in all, his tax bill was $42,000 more.
So now he's paying $160,000 on his first RMD, and he's like going, what happened? All right.
thought it was a great idea in the 80s when they kind of introduced it.
I remember being right there, Catherine, because I was in a job where there was no pension.
So then I thought, oh, they're going to give me this thing that I can control, that I can put money into.
I can make my decisions and I can say when I want to take this money out.
Seemed like a great idea.
And now we are all in our 60s and 70s, and we see a little downside to this.
We tried to get that money out.
I got a story for you.
This is a 73-year-old man who is taking his very first RMD, his very first required minimum distribution.
He has $3 million, so he's been a really good saver.
Well, here's what happened to him.
The amount that he had to take out was $120,000.
That put him into a higher tax bracket.
It also put him over the Irma line.
All in all, his tax bill was $42,000 more.
So now he's paying $160,000 on his first RMD, and he's like going, what happened? All right.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
