If you're 70½ or older and you write a check to your church, your alma mater, or your favorite charity every year, I want to ask you something.
Are you giving that money from your bank account, or from your IRA?
Most people give from their checking account, out of habit. But if you're also taking Required Minimum Distributions, there's a legal IRS provision that lets you do both at once — satisfy your RMD and support the causes you care about — without adding a dollar to your taxable income.
Almost nobody uses it. Today we're going to fix that.
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DEEP DIVE
The strategy: The Qualified Charitable Distribution
Here's the problem first.
Once you turn 73, the IRS forces you to take RMDs from your traditional IRA.
That withdrawal counts as ordinary income.
It can push you into a higher tax bracket, raise your Medicare premiums through IRMAA, and even make more of your Social Security taxable.
If you're already giving to charity every year, you're paying tax on money you were going to give away anyway.
That's where the Qualified Charitable Distribution comes in.
A QCD lets you transfer up to $105,000 a year directly from your IRA to a qualified charity.
Not to yourself first. Directly from the IRA to the charity.
Here's why that matters:
It counts toward your RMD. If your RMD is $20,000 and you send it as a QCD, you've satisfied the requirement.
It never touches your taxable income. A $20,000 RMD normally adds $20,000 to your income. As a QCD, it adds zero.
It can lower other costs too. Because your income stays lower, you may avoid IRMAA surcharges and keep more of your Social Security check untaxed.
You don't itemize deductions to get this benefit, either. The money simply never counts as income in the first place.
That's a bigger win than a standard charitable deduction for most retirees today.
WEEKLY MAILBAG
"I donate $10,000 to my church every year. Is there a smarter way to do this from my IRA?" — Helen B., Texas
Hi Helen. Yes — and it's simpler than most people expect.
Instead of writing a personal check, ask your IRA custodian to send the $10,000 directly to your church as a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
If you're 70½ or older, that amount counts toward your RMD for the year.
And because it goes straight from the IRA to the church, it never shows up as taxable income on your return.
Same gift, same church, smaller tax bill. Just ask your custodian for their QCD paperwork before you take your next distribution.
MARKET MINUTE
The IRS's QCD limit is indexed for inflation each year — for 2026, it's $105,000 per person, or $210,000 for a married couple who both have IRAs.
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