Direct Answer
Low-effort investing guides for Your 70s (Ages 70-79). These pages cover the one-fund approach, automatic contributions, and simple annual reviews for casual investors at this life stage.
Casual Investing for Your 70s (Ages 70-79)
- One-fund portfolio: Required minimum distributions start at 73 for anyone born from 1951 through 1959, so a single fund in a traditional IRA must be sold down on a schedule whether or not markets are favorable. Common mistake: Letting a single fund keep reinvesting automatically and missing the year's required minimum distribution, which carries a 25% penalty (10% if corrected promptly) on the amount not withdrawn.
- 30 minutes a year: The 70s add a calendar item to the half hour: required minimum distributions, due from age 73 or 75 depending on birth year. Common mistake: Delaying the first RMD to April 1 without noticing that the second one is due by December 31 of the same year, stacking two taxable distributions into one year.
- Automatic contributions: In the 70s the automatic flow typically reverses. Common mistake: Delaying the first RMD to April 1 of the following year without realizing the second distribution is also due that year, which can raise taxable income and later affect Medicare surcharges.
- Simple portfolio: Required minimum distributions turn the portfolio into a scheduled source of cash: age 73 for those born 1951 to 1959 and 75 for those born in 1960 or later. Common mistake: Taking each year's required withdrawal by selling whichever fund is most convenient, which can quietly push the mix away from its target without anyone deciding to change it.
- Review once a year: The annual review in the 70s is organized around the calendar. Common mistake: Taking the first required minimum distribution in the delayed April 1 window and then taking the second in the same calendar year, which stacks two distributions into one tax year.
- Avoid overtrading: Required minimum distributions, starting at 73 or 75 depending on birth year, create forced sales or in-kind transfers every year, so a planned source for the withdrawal is more useful than selling whatever is down that day. Common mistake: Selling highly appreciated taxable holdings to simplify the portfolio without comparing the tax cost to the step-up in basis heirs may receive, and without considering the effect on income-based Medicare premiums.