Sun City West is a community built on planning ahead. The golf tee times get reserved early. Stardust Theatre tickets go fast. The pickleball courts at Palm Ridge fill up because people here show up prepared. That same instinct — think ahead, get positioned, do not wait for the deadline — is exactly what makes the difference when Required Minimum Distributions arrive at age 73.
RMDs are one of those retirement checkpoints that reward preparation and punish procrastination. You spend years building retirement accounts, managing withdrawals, and keeping your tax picture under control. Then the IRS requires a minimum withdrawal from most tax-deferred accounts each year once you hit the required age — whether you planned for it or not. For retirees in Sun City West, Surprise, and the 85375 ZIP code, the real question is not simply “Do I have to take an RMD?” It is “Am I ready for what this withdrawal may do to the rest of my plan?” Here is the checklist we walk through with clients at our Sun City West office before that birthday arrives.
1. Take a complete inventory of every retirement account you own
Before anything else can be planned, you need to know what you have. Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, profit-sharing plans, and certain 457 plans may all carry RMD requirements — and each may follow a slightly different timeline. Old employer accounts that were never rolled over often have plan-specific rules that differ from standard IRA treatment. Many retirees in the 85375 area discover during this process that they have accounts they have not actively reviewed in years, sometimes carrying outdated beneficiary information and no connection to the rest of the retirement plan.
2. Confirm your first deadline — and think about the timing deliberately
For most retirees, the first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after the year they turn 73, with every subsequent RMD due by December 31. Delaying the first RMD until that April deadline is permitted, but it means two required withdrawals may land on the same tax return — one taken before April 1 and one due by December 31 of that same year. That is not automatically the wrong choice, but it is a choice that should be made intentionally, with a full understanding of the tax impact, rather than by default.
3. Estimate what the withdrawal will do to your tax picture
An RMD is taxable income, and for most retirees in Sun City West who are already receiving Social Security, pension payments, investment income, or annuity distributions, it does not arrive in a vacuum. It stacks on top of what is already there. Working through the estimated tax impact before the withdrawal happens — not after — is the difference between managing the situation and reacting to it.
4. Check whether your income is near an IRMAA threshold
If a required withdrawal pushes your income above one of Medicare’s Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount thresholds, your Part B and Part D premiums may increase for the following two years. Not every retiree will be affected, but IRMAA thresholds are specific dollar amounts, and income from two years prior is what Medicare looks at. If you are anywhere near a threshold, a single required withdrawal is worth reviewing before it becomes a surprise on next year’s Medicare bill.
5. Update beneficiary designations on every account
Retirement accounts are also estate planning instruments, and beneficiary designations on those accounts generally override whatever a will says. Before RMDs begin is the right time to confirm that the beneficiaries listed on every account reflect your current wishes — because life changes, and an account opened two decades ago may still list a name that no longer makes sense. This is one of the most common oversights we find when reviewing accounts at our Sun City West office, and it is one of the easiest to fix when caught early.
6. Make sure your financial advisor, your CPA, and your estate plan are working together
This is the step that matters most and gets skipped most often. An RMD touches income planning, tax strategy, Medicare costs, investment allocation, and estate planning — it is not a standalone task. Treating it as one (take the withdrawal, check the box, move on) means missing everything it connects to. At Prime Wealth Advisors in Sun City West, a financial advisor, a CPA, and an estate and elder law attorney work together under one roof at 13843 W. Meeker Blvd, 85375. That coordination is not a feature — it is the point. Your retirement plan should be one integrated strategy, not a set of independent decisions that happen to involve the same person.
The checkpoint is coming — plan for it now
An RMD check-up does not have to be complicated. It starts with understanding which accounts are involved, when the first deadline falls, what the tax picture looks like, whether Medicare costs could be affected, and whether the full plan is built to handle a required withdrawal as one connected strategy. Sun City West rewards people who plan ahead. Your finances deserve the same approach.
Schedule your RMD check-up today: https://rmd73.com | 623-777-7463
One location. One visit. Your one-stop retirement shop in Sun City West, AZ 85375.
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