Sometimes—but only as part of a multi-year tax and retirement-income plan. A planned withdrawal from a traditional IRA can pay your expenses while you delay Social Security and may reduce the size of later required distributions. The withdrawal is generally ordinary taxable income, however. It can make more of your future Social Security taxable and, once Medicare is involved, can raise income-related Medicare premiums (IRMAA) because those premiums generally use income from two years earlier.
The right comparison is not “IRA withdrawal or no withdrawal” for one tax year. Compare several years of traditional-IRA withdrawals, Roth withdrawals, earlier Social Security, and delayed Social Security, while accounting for investment risk, required minimum distributions (RMDs), longevity and survivor needs, and Medicare timing.
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What happens when you withdraw from an IRA before Social Security?
The tax result depends mainly on which IRA you use.
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A distribution from a traditional IRA is generally included in ordinary income. The main exceptions are amounts representing your after-tax basis and distributions that otherwise receive a specific tax treatment. The Internal Revenue Service explains the general rule in Publication 590-B (2025).
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That income is reported whether or not you have started Social Security. Waiting to claim benefits does not make a traditional-IRA withdrawal tax-free; it only changes the year in which the income appears.
Qualified Roth IRA withdrawals
A qualified Roth IRA distribution is generally tax-free. Roth withdrawals therefore can provide spending money without adding to the income measure used in the Social Security taxability formula or the Medicare IRMAA calculation. Whether a particular Roth distribution is qualified depends on Roth-distribution rules and your facts, so keep records of contributions, conversions and prior distributions.
Required minimum distributions are separate from Social Security
Traditional-IRA owners generally must begin RMDs at age 73. The first RMD is generally due by April 1 of the year after the year you reach 73; later RMDs are generally due by December 31 each year. This requirement applies even if you have not claimed Social Security. Delaying Social Security does not let you postpone RMDs.
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Yes. The IRS test adds one-half of your Social Security benefits to all other income, including tax-exempt interest. The IRS states: “Your benefits may be taxable if the total of (1) one-half of your benefits, plus (2) all of your other income, including tax-exempt interest, is greater than the base amount for your filing status.”
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A traditional-IRA distribution is part of that “other income.” If your combined amount crosses the applicable base amount for your filing status, some of your benefits may become taxable. The exact result depends on filing status, benefit amount, other income and the tax year. Use the worksheet in the current IRS Social Security Income FAQ or Publication 915 for each year you expect to receive benefits rather than assuming that every dollar of a withdrawal creates the same tax effect.
The interaction is often delayed: a withdrawal made while you are waiting to claim Social Security cannot make a benefit taxable in a year in which you receive no benefit, but it can raise the taxable portion after benefits begin if the withdrawal continues or if it increases income in a claiming year.
Will an IRA withdrawal raise Medicare premiums?
It can. Medicare’s income-related adjustment is known as IRMAA. The Social Security Administration generally determines IRMAA from modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) reported on a tax return from two years before the premium year. A large traditional-IRA withdrawal can therefore affect a later Medicare premium rather than the premium immediately following the withdrawal.
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Roth distributions that are qualified generally do not enter MAGI, while traditional-IRA distributions generally do. A conversion from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is also generally taxable in the conversion year, so it can have the same near-term MAGI and IRMAA consequences as another taxable distribution.
How delaying Social Security changes the trade-off
Social Security can generally begin at age 62, but starting before full retirement age reduces the monthly benefit. If you wait after full retirement age, delayed-retirement credits increase the benefit until age 70. The Social Security Administration reports an 8% annual delayed-retirement credit for people born in 1943 or later. Credits stop at age 70; waiting beyond 70 does not increase the retirement benefit.
The larger benefit is inflation-adjusted under Social Security’s rules and can be valuable if you live a long time. It can also increase the survivor benefit available to an eligible surviving spouse, depending on your claiming record and the survivor’s circumstances. Those are forms of insurance against longevity and the risk that one spouse outlives the other, not merely a tax calculation.
Using IRA assets to cover spending while you delay can be sensible when the value of the larger, later benefit outweighs the taxes, investment sales and other costs of the bridge. Claiming earlier may be preferable when liquidity is limited, health or longevity expectations are poor, or withdrawals would push you into an undesirable tax or IRMAA range. No universal break-even age or “safe” withdrawal amount is established by the governing sources.
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Traditional IRA versus Roth IRA for the bridge years
| Choice | Income effect in the withdrawal year | Effect on later planning | Typical planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional IRA withdrawal | Generally ordinary taxable income; after-tax basis can change the taxable amount | May increase the taxable portion of Social Security, MAGI used for IRMAA, and current-year tax | Fill available tax capacity before Social Security or reduce future RMDs |
| Qualified Roth IRA withdrawal | Generally tax-free | Preserves lower MAGI and does not use up traditional-IRA assets; reduces future Roth flexibility when spent | Fund spending when avoiding additional taxable income is a priority |
| Taxable-account withdrawal | May create interest, dividends or capital gains; the tax character depends on the asset and transaction | Can still affect the Social Security formula and MAGI through the taxable income it produces | Coordinate with IRA and Roth withdrawals to manage liquidity and tax brackets |
There is no rule that everyone should spend Roth money first or traditional money first. A traditional withdrawal can use a lower marginal tax bracket that might otherwise go unused, but a Roth withdrawal can preserve room under Social Security and Medicare income measures. The best order can change each year.
Should you take small annual withdrawals or one large withdrawal?
Small, planned withdrawals
Even withdrawals spread across several years can create taxable income, but they may keep each year’s marginal rate and Social Security-taxability exposure more manageable. They also give you the chance to adjust the next withdrawal after seeing actual wages, investment income, deductions and withholding.
One large withdrawal or conversion
A large distribution can pay several years of expenses or move money out of a traditional IRA before RMDs begin. It can also stack income into higher marginal brackets, make more Social Security taxable, and create an IRMAA consequence two years later. A Roth conversion is not a way to avoid those effects; the converted amount is generally taxable in the conversion year.
Do not select a withdrawal size solely by aiming for a bracket ceiling. Include tax-exempt interest, capital gains, pensions, dividends, wages and any other income that enters the relevant calculation. Also account for estimated-tax payments or withholding so the strategy does not create an avoidable underpayment problem.
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How to analyze your own situation step by step
- Set the timeline. Start with the proposed withdrawal year and project every year through at least age 75. Include the age at which you might claim Social Security, Medicare enrollment, age 73 RMDs and the first RMD due date.
- List every income source. Enter wages, pensions, interest, dividends, capital gains, traditional-IRA withdrawals, Roth withdrawals and Social Security. Separate taxable and tax-free amounts instead of using one total spending figure.
- Model claiming dates. Compare claiming at 62, claiming at full retirement age and delaying to 70, using your own Social Security estimates. Apply the reduction for early claiming and the delayed-retirement credits for months after full retirement age. Include the potential survivor-benefit effect where relevant.
- Run the IRS Social Security worksheet for each claiming year. Add one-half of benefits, all other income and tax-exempt interest, then apply the base amount for your filing status. Test both the amount of benefits that becomes taxable and the marginal tax rate produced by the withdrawal.
- Add RMDs. Beginning at age 73, calculate the required distributions from traditional IRAs. Test whether voluntary withdrawals before 73 reduce a later RMD spike and whether those withdrawals create more tax now than the projected future savings justify.
- Add IRMAA with the correct lag. Once Medicare coverage is relevant, map each tax year to the premium year two years later. Test whether a withdrawal or conversion could change your IRMAA determination and whether an appeal based on a qualifying life-changing event might apply under current rules.
- Compare funding sources. Run a traditional-IRA bridge, a qualified-Roth bridge, an earlier Social Security claim and a lower-spending plan. Keep the same spending need and investment assumptions in each case so the comparison is meaningful.
- Stress-test markets and liquidity. Identify which investments would be sold to fund withdrawals. Selling during a downturn can lock in losses; selling appreciated assets can create capital gains. Keep an emergency reserve separate from the amount intended for routine bridge spending.
- Recheck each year. Tax law, IRS publication editions, Social Security rules and IRMAA tables can change. Update the projection with actual income and the current IRS and Social Security Administration guidance before making the next withdrawal.
Common mistakes that undermine the strategy
- Treating a traditional-IRA withdrawal as tax-free cash. It is generally ordinary income unless basis or another exception applies.
- Ignoring tax-exempt interest. It is included in the IRS Social Security taxability test even though it is not generally taxable interest.
- Looking only at the withdrawal year. Social Security taxability and IRMAA can be affected in later years, and RMDs can increase future income.
- Assuming Medicare uses current income. IRMAA generally looks back two years, so the premium effect can be delayed.
- Forgetting the age-73 deadline. Delaying Social Security does not delay traditional-IRA RMDs.
- Spending Roth assets without considering flexibility. Tax-free Roth funds can be especially useful in a future high-income year, an IRMAA-sensitive year or a market downturn.
- Using a single break-even calculation. A break-even age does not capture survivor protection, investment returns, taxes, health, longevity or the value of liquidity.
- Failing to coordinate investments and taxes. The account chosen for a withdrawal determines which securities are sold and whether gains or losses are realized.
When professional advice is justified
A personalized projection is especially useful when you have multiple traditional IRAs, substantial Roth balances, a pension, taxable investments, a spouse with a different claiming age, a history of after-tax IRA contributions, or Medicare enrollment close to a planned conversion or withdrawal. Ask an adviser or tax professional to show the assumptions, year-by-year taxable income, Social Security-taxable amount, projected RMDs and IRMAA effects—not just a recommendation to withdraw or wait.
Bring your filing status, both spouses’ ages, Social Security estimates, traditional-IRA basis records, Roth contribution and conversion history, account balances, spending requirement, other income, expected Medicare enrollment date, health considerations and longevity assumptions. Without those inputs, a precise withdrawal amount would be false precision.
A practical decision rule
Consider a traditional-IRA withdrawal before claiming Social Security when it meets a real spending need, uses otherwise-unused tax capacity, and improves the projected lifetime plan after accounting for Social Security taxability, IRMAA, RMDs and investment risk. Prefer Roth or other assets when adding traditional-IRA income would create a disproportionate tax or Medicare cost and preserving the Roth balance does not provide more value later. Claim Social Security earlier when the bridge would deplete liquidity or when the value of delaying is not compelling for your health, household or survivor objectives.
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Make the choice one year at a time within a written multi-year projection. The objective is not to eliminate tax in a single year; it is to coordinate taxable income, benefit timing, Medicare premiums and portfolio withdrawals over the years you expect the plan to operate.
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