6 Actionable Ways to Help Lower RMD Taxes

The IRS requires distributions starting at 73 - these six moves could help lower your tax bill.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online 6 Strategies to Help Lower RMD Taxes Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s and other workplace plans can help you build wealth for the future while enjoying some tax benefits. There's just one important thing you need to plan for: required minimum distributions (RMDs). The IRS requires you to begin taking distributions from certain retirement accounts in the year you turn 73. If not properly planned for, these distributions could take a potential tax toll on your retirement nest egg. Here are six smart RMD strategies that could help reduce distributions and potentially lower your tax bill. See the list. Consulting a fiduciary financial advisor can be a great first step to factoring RMDs, and the potential tax repercussions, into your retirement plan. SmartAsset's latest proprietary model reveals that working with a financial advisor could potentially add from 36% to 212% more dollar value to investors' portfolios over a lifetime, depending on multiple unique, individual factors.1 It's never too late to plan to work toward a comfortable retirement. Try SmartAsset's no-cost tool to find and compare vetted financial advisors serving your area. Get your financial advisor matches today Try SmartAsset's Financial Advisor Matching Tool Hire a pro. Find and compare vetted financial advisors serving your area, each legally bound to work in your best interest. Get Started More Reading from MarketBeat Media AutoZone's Pullback Sets Up a Long-Term Buying Opportunity Author: Thomas Hughes. First Published: 5/26/2026. Key Points AutoZone pulls back into a deep-value opportunity as near-term spending cuts into earnings. Long-term trends remain healthy, including cash flow and aggressive share buybacks Institutions provide support and are likely to be buyers as H2 2026 nears its conclusion. Special Report: Trump Issues Emergency Order That Supports Elon Musk's Next Venture (From Altimetry) AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) is a buy-and-hold quality stock that is nearly beyond compare. The company’s management, strategy, market position, industry tailwinds, operational quality, cash flow, and capital returns create a recipe for steadily growing value, as reflected in the long-term price action. AZO’s stock price advanced approximately 500% from the pandemic low to the 2025 peak, and additional highs are still likely in 2026. The takeaway in 2026 is that the AZO market is experiencing a much-needed price correction and setting up a buying opportunity of generational proportions. It may take some time for AZO’s market to regain traction and resume its uptrend, but it will, and when it does, the gains could be explosive. Catalysts include international expansion, market share gains, business optimization, and aggressive share buybacks. The SEC required SpaceX to name this company. They just did (Ad) When SpaceX files its S-1 in June, the SEC will require full disclosure of operating expenses - including power consumption for 1 million GPUs, a cost that rivals entire cities. That disclosure will name the supplier. One small, publicly traded power infrastructure company sits at the center of this - carrying a $1.5 billion backlog and priced like a utility. Dylan Jovine has the full breakdown. See the stock the S-1 revealed >> The company is expanding aggressively in Latin America, specifically in Mexico and Brazil, where middle-class growth is strongest. Meanwhile, AutoZone remains focused on capturing the fragmented commercial auto parts market and improving supply chain efficiency through digitization. The critical factors are earnings growth, cash flow, and aggressive share buybacks. The company is well regarded as an efficient steward of capital, reducing its share count significantly on both a quarterly and annual basis. Q1 activity amounted to $586 million, about 92% of operating profits, reducing the count by an average of 2% on a trailing 12-month (TTM) basis. Mixed Results Favor AutoZone Investors AutoZone reported a mixed quarter, with revenue for its fiscal Q3 2026 falling short of the consensus estimate. However, the $20 million miss was modest and easily overlooked in light of 8.5% growth and margin strength. Revenue growth was underpinned by increases in store count in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil, compounded by a 3.9% systemwide comp. Comps rose 4.1% domestically and 1.6% internationally, below expectations but still healthy gains. Margin news was also mixed, and that was central to the stock price decline. However, the gross margin reduction and overall impact were less severe than feared, leaving operating profit up approximately 6.5% year over year and GAAP earnings per share well ahead of the consensus forecast. At $38.07, GAAP earnings were nearly $2 above expectations and 5.5% better than expected, sufficient to sustain operations and capital returns while enabling strategy execution. AutoZone’s balance sheet shows no red flags. The company’s cash balance held relatively steady despite increased investment and robust capital returns. Other highlights include higher inventory and total assets, along with a reduction in deficit. Normally a concern, the shareholder deficit results from share buybacks and is likely to persist over time. AutoZone has returned more than $12.5 billion to investors over the past decade, approximately 25% of its late-May market cap. AutoZone Market Overreacts to Results, Deepening the Value Opportunity Analyst trends have contributed to AutoZone’s 2026 stock price weakness, as some price targets were reduced earlier in the year. The caveat is that the market overreacted to those adjustments, compounding the move lower after the fiscal Q3 release. Trading near $3,000, AZO stock is 20% below the lowest price target tracked, while analyst consensus forecasts more than 40% upside. The likely result is that AZO finds a bottom sometime in late Q2 or early Q3 and begins to regain traction later in the year. Institutional trends are among the reasons the AZO stock price may be nearing a bottom. Institutional investors own approximately 93% of the shares and have accumulated on a TTM basis. Price action in late May has entered the range where institutional buying was strongest, suggesting a robust response from this group could be forthcoming. If not, AZO’s stock price could enter a sustained downtrend, but that is not indicated by the results, analysts' trends, or chart price action. The chart shows a mid-term downtrend, but the chance of a rebound is increasing. As price action moves lower, the MACD is diverging and the stochastic is deeply oversold, suggesting bears have lost control and bulls need only a trigger to start buying. That trigger could be as simple as valuation, which points to a 50% discount to the five-year outlook, but it may require more tangible news, which may not arrive until the company’s fiscal Q4 earnings results are released. The biggest risk for AutoZone this year is margin compression. While the effects of aggressive expansion are manageable and should moderate over time, rising costs are a greater concern and may continue to erode results. The question is whether efficiencies gained from the “Mega Hub” strategy will be enough to support margin recovery over time. This is a hypothetical example and is not representative of any specific security. Actual results when working with a financial advisor will vary. This scenario is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an actual client. Results may vary. This is not an offer to buy or sell any security or interest. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Working with an adviser may come with potential downsides such as payment of fees (which will reduce returns). Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There are no guarantees that working with an adviser will yield positive returns. The existence of a fiduciary duty does not prevent the rise of potential conflicts of interest. 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