Vanguard had my RMD amount for 2025 this AM

[Grasshopper]

Not like last year were it took forever, my RMD amount was available this morning.

[TomatoTomahto]

Schwab says “no later than Jan 6.”

[Toons]

Plenty of calculators out there to plan
for 2026
https://www.schwab.com/ira/ira-calculators/rmd and beyond

[mkelley5108]

If you look at the year end Schwab statement it has the 2024 and 2025 RMD listed.

[MtnBiker]

Duplicate

[MtnBiker]

This being my first RMD, I wanted to understand how to do the RMD calculation myself. As part of this process, I cross checked the Vanguard RMD calculator against the Vanguard year-end statement. The end-of-year tIRA balance in the statement is 6 cents less than the end-of-year balance listed in the RMD calculator. Digging further, I looked at the December 31 account balance listed online under the "Balances by Date" view.

The discrepancy in the end-of-year balance can be traced to different rounding methods used when calculating the values of individual securities (a penny difference here and there) between what is shown online vs. what is shown on the statement. This discrepancy only changes the RMD by a penny, but you would think Vanguard would avoid such oddities by using a consistent way of computing balances. (On the statement, a value of 99.9999 is truncated to 99.99 instead of rounding up to 100.00)

[dperkins]

I made a sale on December 31st for my mom and they applied it to 2025's RMD. Irrr- so annoying.

[MtVu]

Made a cash withdrawal from Vanguard IRA and moved to Brokerage on the 31st before 10 AM. Now Vanguard states it is a 2025 withdrawal, not 2024 as their website claimed it would be. Called and spoke with a customer service representative. Insisted this be escalated and looked into. According to IRS rules, it is to be the trade date, not settle date. Not happy with Vanguard right now. I was told I should hear back from them in 5-7 days.

[rkhusky]

Made a cash withdrawal from Vanguard IRA and moved to Brokerage on the 31st before 10 AM. Now Vanguard states it is a 2025 withdrawal, not 2024 as their website claimed it would be. Called and spoke with a customer service representative. Insisted this be escalated and looked into. According to IRS rules, it is to be the trade date, not settle date. Not happy with Vanguard right now. I was told I should hear back from them in 5-7 days.

So, the withdrawal is not showing up in your December statement?

[GoldStar]

Made a cash withdrawal from Vanguard IRA and moved to Brokerage on the 31st before 10 AM. Now Vanguard states it is a 2025 withdrawal, not 2024 as their website claimed it would be. Called and spoke with a customer service representative. Insisted this be escalated and looked into. According to IRS rules, it is to be the trade date, not settle date. Not happy with Vanguard right now. I was told I should hear back from them in 5-7 days.

Sorry to hear. Waiting until last day of the year seems risky in any case (especially given Vanguard's reputation for making these types of errors) - the account I manage I have set to 12/15 - recommend this going forward.

[celia]

I made a sale on December 31st for my mom and they applied it to 2025's RMD. Irrr- so annoying.

Sales do not impact your RMD. But the Dec 31 closing balance of a tax-deferred account does.

[Chuckles960]

I made a sale on December 31st for my mom and they applied it to 2025's RMD. Irrr- so annoying.

Sale from what account, going where? And what does "applied it" mean?

Anyway, regarding the original post, I am not sure why one would ever need to wait "forever" for the brokerage to announce the RMD amount. The end of year balance should be available on 1/1 (it is at Fidelity, once MM 12/31 dividends have been added in overnight). Just divide by the relevant factor. And if desired, round it up to the next dollar to avoid penny-level discrepancies.

Do Vanguard and Schwab not show current balances daily?

[123]

I helped a relative take their 2025 RMD from their Fidelity account on 1/2/2025. Fidelity has it all calculated so just a couple of clicks. They take it early in the year and buy Total Stock Market for tax efficiency.

[lws]

Already calculated it in the RMD spreadsheet.

[lws]

Already calculated it in the RMD spreadsheet.

[Alan S.]

RMD amounts calculated by an IRA custodian should be checked, as they are not always correct. Here are the most frequent pitfalls:

1) Plan fails to use the Joint Life Table when eligible (sole spouse beneficiary more than 10 years younger)
2) There is an outstanding rollover between IRAs that is not in any IRA on 12/31. YE value will be understated.
3) Recharacterized contribution to TIRA - typical example here would be a Roth contribution made in 2024 that is recharacterized as a 2024 TIRA contribution in 2025. The transferred amount must be added to the 12/31/2024 TIRA value. See 8606 Inst for line 6 as well, as this also affects pro rata calcs.
4) System programming error for new year, age, or account balance.

[RyeBourbon]

I made a sale on December 31st for my mom and they applied it to 2025's RMD. Irrr- so annoying.

A sale has nothing to do with an RMD.

[mattshwink]

A sale has nothing to do with an RMD.

I made a sale on December 31st for my mom and they applied it to 2025's RMD. Irrr- so annoying.

A sale has nothing to do with an RMD.

It normally does. An RMD is a required withdrawal. Any sale (not exchange) is just a withdrawal, so it should satisfy the RMD requirement (which, again, is just a requirement to withdraw at least a specified amount).

But trading days matter, and if you enter a sale it may not close until after hours or the next trading day (which in this case, would be January 2nd). I entered my RMDs after hours on the 24th, as I do every year, and they didn't execute until the 27th.

[RyeBourbon]

A sale has nothing to do with an RMD.

It normally does. An RMD is a required withdrawal. Any sale (not exchange) is just a withdrawal, so it should satisfy the RMD requirement (which, again, is just a requirement to withdraw at least a specified amount).

A sale is NOT a withdrawal and will not satisfy an RMD. You have to remove the proceeds from the account after the sale has settled.

[MtVu]

Made a cash withdrawal from Vanguard IRA and moved to Brokerage on the 31st before 10 AM. Now Vanguard states it is a 2025 withdrawal, not 2024 as their website claimed it would be. Called and spoke with a customer service representative. Insisted this be escalated and looked into. According to IRS rules, it is to be the trade date, not settle date. Not happy with Vanguard right now. I was told I should hear back from them in 5-7 days.

Sorry to hear. Waiting until last day of the year seems risky in any case (especially given Vanguard's reputation for making these types of errors) - the account I manage I have set to 12/15 - recommend this going forward.

Normally, I would not have waited until the last day. I had a heart attack on the 8th. As such, it didn't get done.

[GoldStar]

Sorry to hear. Waiting until last day of the year seems risky in any case (especially given Vanguard's reputation for making these types of errors) - the account I manage I have set to 12/15 - recommend this going forward.

Normally, I would not have waited until the last day. I had a heart attack on the 8th. As such, it didn't get done.

Sorry to hear about the heart attack - my prayers are with you.
For 2025 - you can set up the RMD now so it will be done automatically on 12/15 (or whatever date you choose). I never trust myself to remember to do to it manually.