What is the QCD limit for 2026?

The QCD annual limit is indexed and adjusted periodically by the IRS. Qualified Charitable Distributions are available beginning at age 70.5 under current law - before the applicable RMD Age. Break Analytics models QCD strategies year by year alongside RMD projections so advisors can show clients the full impact of charitable distribution planning during the pre-RMD window.

When can a client start taking Qualified Charitable Distributions?

QCDs are available beginning at age 70.5 under current law - before the applicable RMD Age. This creates a planning opportunity for charitably inclined clients to reduce taxable IRA balances before required distributions begin. Break Analytics models the year-by-year tax impact of acting during this window versus waiting for required distributions to begin.

What is RMD Plus in Break Analytics?

RMD Plus is a CREST module that models owner RMD calculations using the Uniform Lifetime Table and Joint and Last Survivor Table for both client and spouse, with a Wealth Model showing all components in a single illustration.

What is the pre-RMD planning gap?

The pre-RMD planning gap is the period between a client's current age and their applicable RMD Age under current law. During this window, Qualified Charitable Distributions are already available at age 70.5, and pre-RMD distributions may make sense depending on the client's tax situation and bracket positioning. Break Analytics models the year-by-year tax impact of acting during this window versus waiting for required distributions to begin.

BREAK ANALYTICS — RMD & QCD PLANNING SOFTWARE

Your Clients Have a Tax Problem Arriving on Schedule. Break Analytics RMD & QCD Planning Gets You Ahead of It.

Every year they don’t act, the tax problem compounds. Break Analytics models Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), and IRMAA exposure — so you arrive at the meeting with the analysis, not the intention.

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2026 QCD Limit: $111,000 per individual
RMD Age identified automatically
Year-by-year RMD distribution schedule

Decades of Deferral. One Unavoidable Reckoning.

For decades, your clients did everything right. They maxed their qualified retirement plan (QRP), including a 401(k). They made deductible contributions to their Traditional IRA annually, deferred the tax, and let the balance grow. Then one day the tax bill comes due. The IRC mandates that IRA owners and QRP participants begin taking RMDs annually from these accounts generally once they reach their Required Beginning Date (RBD). The deductible contributions and earnings distributed from the account are taxable.

The retirement accounts they spent a lifetime building become a tax event they can’t avoid — only manage.

Break Analytics gives you year-by-year RMD modeling to turn that compliance requirement into a planning conversation — for clients approaching their first RMD and those already in distribution.

When Do RMDs Start? — 2026 Reference

70½ Born before July 1, 1949

QCD eligibility from a Traditional IRA or Inherited Traditional IRA begins at 70½ — unchanged by the SECURE Act or SECURE 2.0, and independent of RMD age.

72 Born July 1, 1949 – Dec 31, 1950

Under original SECURE Act rules effective January 1, 2020.

73 Born Jan 1, 1951 – Dec 31, 1959

SECURE 2.0 raised the starting age to 73 effective January 1, 2023.

75 Born Jan 1, 1960 or later

SECURE 2.0 established age 75 as the RMD starting age — first RMDs due in 2033.

Break Analytics automatically identifies your client’s correct RMD start age based on their date of birth. For clients whose first RMD was due in the prior year, the software allows advisors to select the prior year distribution — available January 1 through March 31, consistent with the April 1 Required Beginning Date under the IRC. No manual lookups, no risk of applying last year’s rules to this year’s client.

QCDs: The Most Powerful Planning Tool in Your RMD Conversation

2026 QCD Annual Limit

$111,000

Per individual, per year — indexed to inflation annually under SECURE 2.0. When both spouses are 70½ or older and separately hold a Traditional and/or Inherited Traditional IRA, each may direct up to $111,000 — $222,000 in total QCDs in 2026.

QCDs are no longer a niche strategy. According to FreeWill’s 2026 Giving from IRAs report, the average QCD gift was $4,000 in 2025 — and completed QCD gifts grew 47% that year alone. Your clients are already donating to their favorite nonprofits. The question is whether they are using their Traditional IRA or Inherited Traditional IRA to do it — capturing the full tax exclusion, partially or fully satisfying their RMD, and avoiding a higher IRMAA tier — or writing a check from their checking account that delivers little to no tax benefit under today’s higher standard deduction.

A QCD is a direct transfer from a Traditional IRA or Inherited Traditional IRA to a qualified charity. It counts toward satisfying the applicable RMD but is excluded from MAGI — not as a deduction, but as income that never appears on the return. That distinction matters: it can reduce IRMAA exposure, lower Social Security taxation, and reduce state income tax for clients in states that tax IRA distributions.

Consider what the comparison looks like for a charitable client 70½ or older — whether or not they are yet subject to RMDs: a client who donates from their checking account and takes their full RMD as a taxable distribution gets a deduction only if they itemize — and most don’t. A client who directs that same amount as a QCD has it excluded from MAGI entirely, regardless of whether they itemize. For the right client, the difference is significant — and quantifiable.

FREE ADVISOR RESOURCE

The IRA Stages at Different Ages

Before your client asks about RMDs, Roth conversions, or QCDs — hand them this. One page. Every IRA milestone from age 50 to 75, clearly framed. Save it, keep a copy on your desk, and share it with clients.

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What Break Analytics Does For RMD & QCD Planning

Precise RMD Calculations

Break Analytics applies the Uniform Lifetime Table by default. When the advisor enters spouse information and the spouse is more than 10 years younger, the software automatically applies the Joint Table. The advisor confirms sole primary beneficiary status.

RMD Projections That Drive Planning Conversations

Project your client’s RMD trajectory years out — and use it to make the case for a Roth conversion, Roth IRA, or QRP Designated Roth Account contributions before distributions become the problem.

Model Distributions Beyond the RMD

Some clients take only what the IRC requires. Others need or want more. Break Analytics models Custom Distributions above the RMD — so you can show the long-term impact of either approach before your client decides.

Client-Ready Illustrations in Minutes

Enter client info and spouse if applicable — Break Analytics identifies the right table, applies the correct divisor, and produces a client-ready RMD illustration without a spreadsheet in sight.

The Rules Are Built In

RMD Age, life expectancy tables, and divisors are built into the software — no memorization, no manual lookups, no risk of applying the wrong rule to the wrong client.

What Advisors Do With Break Analytics

• Project the year-by-year RMD schedule for clients approaching their first distribution and those already taking them — and use the trajectory to drive the planning conversation.
• Use projected RMD trajectories to identify clients who could benefit from QCD planning — so the conversation starts before the distribution year.
• Run RMD projections for younger accumulation-phase clients to make the case for a Roth conversion or Roth IRA contributions before distributions compound the tax problem.
• For clients whose first RMD was due the prior year, model the prior year distribution January through March — consistent with the April 1 Required Beginning Date under the IRC.
• Walk into every RMD client meeting with a client-ready illustration — year-by-year distributions, projected account balances, and the planning conversation already framed.

What Advisors Ask About RMDs and QCDs

How do I use RMD projections to start the QCD conversation with a client?

Start with the projected RMD schedule — show your client the distribution amounts and account balance trajectory year by year. For charitable clients, that conversation naturally surfaces the QCD question: what if the charitable gift came directly from the IRA instead of from their checking account? The RMD illustration including QCD tax modeling — with IRMAA tier exposure two years later and Social Security taxation — is available in the CREST RMD module, launching soon.

What’s the QCD limit for 2026?

To make a QCD, you must be age 70½ or older with a Traditional and/or Inherited Traditional IRA. The limit is $111,000 per person in 2026, indexed for inflation — a married couple with separate IRAs can each contribute up to $111,000 to qualified charities in the same tax year. The full amount is excluded from your MAGI when distributed directly to a qualified charity. A one-time QCD to certain split-interest entities, like charitable remainder trusts, is also permitted — subject to a $56,000 sub-limit in 2026, which counts toward the $111,000 annual maximum. Break Analytics updates limits and thresholds as IRC changes take effect.

When do RMDs start, and what if my client delays the first one?

RMD start age depends on date of birth — age 70½ for those born before July 1, 1949; age 72 for those born July 1, 1949 through December 31, 1950; age 73 for those born January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1959; and age 75 for those born January 1, 1960 or later. The first RMD may be delayed until April 1 following the year the client reaches RMD Age — but delaying means two taxable distributions in the same calendar year. Break Analytics identifies the correct RMD start age automatically and produces the year-by-year distribution schedule from there.

What are the IRA and QRP aggregation rules for RMDs?

Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRA owners may aggregate RMDs across those IRAs and satisfy the total from any one or combination of them. 403(b) participants may also aggregate RMDs across multiple 403(b) accounts. The aggregation rule does not apply to QRPs such as a 401(k) — RMDs from each plan must be calculated and taken separately.

For Inherited IRAs, the rules are more specific. You cannot aggregate RMDs taken as an IRA owner with RMDs taken as a beneficiary. You can aggregate RMDs from Inherited IRAs of the same type — Traditional or Roth — as long as the deceased owner is the same. You cannot aggregate if the deceased owner is the same but the IRA type differs.

Break Analytics does not aggregate across accounts automatically — the advisor inputs the aggregated balance, and the software applies the IRC rules from there.

How do RMDs affect IRMAA Medicare premiums?

IRMAA surcharges are determined by MAGI from two years prior — so a large RMD in the current year can push a client into a higher Medicare premium tier two years later. The surcharge applies to both Part B and Part D premiums and is based on a cliff mechanism — one dollar over a threshold triggers the full surcharge for that tier, not a gradual increase. A QCD can help — because it is excluded from MAGI entirely, it does not count toward the IRMAA calculation the way a taxable distribution does.

What is the excise tax for missing an RMD?

If an RMD is not taken by the deadline, the IRC imposes a 25% excise tax — sometimes referred to as a penalty — on the amount not distributed. SECURE 2.0 reduced this from 50%. The excise tax can be reduced further to 10% if the missed distribution is taken and reported within the two-year correction window, or waived entirely if the shortfall was due to reasonable cause and the IRA owner takes corrective action. Break Analytics illustrates the full RMD schedule year by year — so the distribution requirement is visible well in advance.

What is the still-working exception for 401(k) RMDs?

Under the still-working exception, an employee who is still working and does not own more than 5% of the company may delay RMDs from their current employer’s QRP until April 1 following the year they retire. The still-working exception does not apply to IRAs or to QRPs from prior employers — RMDs from those accounts must begin at the applicable RMD Age regardless of employment status.

Still have questions? The fastest answer is a live walkthrough.

See How Break Analytics Handles Your Client’s RMD Scenario

Walk through an RMD illustration live — distribution schedule, year-by-year projections, and planning conversation already framed — before you purchase.