Year-End 2026 Retirement Deadlines for NYC Police, Fire and City Retirees
What has to be done by December 31 to count for 2026

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Why December 31 matters more than April 15

Most people think of April as tax season. For retirees, the date that actually closes the door is December 31. A required withdrawal, a conversion or a charitable gift from an IRA all count for the calendar year in which the money moves. Once January 1 arrives, the 2026 version of that move is gone.

The one thing that does get extra time is an IRA contribution. The IRS lets you make a 2026 IRA contribution up to the tax filing deadline in April 2027. Nothing else on this list gets that grace.

1. Required minimum distributions (RMDs)

If you are old enough, the IRS requires you to take a minimum amount out of your pre-tax retirement accounts every year. The starting age is 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959, and 75 for people born in 1960 or later.

Each year's RMD is due by December 31. The one exception is your first one. You can put it off until April 1 of the next year. The catch is that you then take two in that year: the delayed first one by April 1 and the second one by December 31. Two withdrawals in one year can push you into a higher bracket, so waiting is not automatically the better choice.

NYC Deferred Compensation has its own start date. DCP says the first 457 RMD is due April 1 after the later of two years: the year you reach RMD age, or the year you retire from City service. So if you are still working for the City past that age, your 457 RMD clock has not started yet. An IRA you hold elsewhere does not get that break.

2. Roth conversions

A Roth conversion moves pre-tax money into a Roth IRA. You pay income tax on the amount now, and qualified withdrawals later come out tax-free. The IRS taxes a conversion in the year it is completed, so a conversion meant for 2026 has to be finished by December 31, 2026. Custodians set their own cutoffs that day, and some are earlier in the afternoon, so do not leave it to the last hour.

Two rules catch people. First, a conversion cannot be undone. The IRS stopped allowing conversions to be reversed starting in 2018. Second, in a year you owe an RMD, the RMD itself cannot be converted. It has to come out first, and only the money above it can go to a Roth.

For New York residents, a conversion of your own 457 or IRA money is New York income in the year you convert. Your NYPD or FDNY pension stays exempt from New York tax, but the conversion does not get that treatment.

3. Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) at 70 1/2

A QCD sends money straight from your IRA to a charity. It stays out of your income, and it counts toward your RMD for the year. You have to be 70 1/2 on the day the gift leaves the account, not just by the end of the year.

For 2026 you can give up to $111,000 this way, per person. To count for 2026, the money has to leave your IRA by December 31. Charities and custodians both slow down in late December, so ask your custodian how long a QCD takes to process and send it early.

One limit matters here. A QCD has to come from an IRA. It cannot come straight out of your 457 or a 401(k). If you want to give from deferred comp money, that money has to be in an IRA first, and moving 457 money to an IRA changes how early withdrawals are treated. Read what not to roll over from NYC Deferred Comp before you move anything.

4. Still working? Your 2026 457 deferral limits

If you are still on the job, the 457 limit runs on the calendar year, and your deferrals come out of your paychecks. That means the last 2026 paycheck is your last chance to use the 2026 limit. Ask DCP how many pay periods a change takes to show up, and make it early.

The 2026 limits from IRS Notice 2025-67:

• $24,500 regular limit, up from $23,500 in 2025.
• $8,000 extra at age 50 or older, for $32,500.
• $11,250 extra instead of $8,000 if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026, for $35,750, if your plan allows it. NYC DCP lists the $35,750 limit.
• Roth catch-up rule: if your 2025 FICA wages from the City (Box 3 of your W-2) were over $150,000, your 2026 catch-up has to go in as Roth. Overtime counts toward that wage figure.

Run your own deferral numbers in the free NYC 457 calculator. It checks which catch-up you qualify for and whether it has to be Roth.

The final-three-years catch-up (DAR) does not stack

Governmental 457 plans have one more catch-up that 401(k)s do not. In the three calendar years before your plan's normal retirement age, the limit can go as high as double the regular limit, which is $49,000 for 2026. NYC DCP calls this DAR.

The catch is in the details. You only get it to the extent you left room unused in earlier years. Someone who always maxed out has no unused room and gains nothing from it. And you cannot use DAR in the same year as the age 50 catch-up or the ages 60 to 63 catch-up. You pick the one that gives you the larger amount, not both.

5. Charitable gifts

A gift to charity counts for the year you actually make it. A check counts on the day you mail it. A gift charged to a credit card counts in the year of the charge, even if you pay the card off in January.

There is something new for 2026. Starting this year, people who take the standard deduction can also deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts, or $2,000 on a joint return, to qualifying public charities. Gifts to donor-advised funds do not count for this one. If you give from an IRA and you are 70 1/2 or older, a QCD usually does more, because the gift never shows up in your income at all.

What this means for your money: do it in order

These five moves touch the same tax return, so the order matters. Here is the sequence we use when we look at a retiree's year-end plan.

First, the RMD. If you owe one, figure out the amount and take it. It has to come out before any conversion, and it sets the floor for your 2026 income.

Second, decide whether a QCD covers part of it. If you give to charity anyway and you are 70 1/2 or older, sending part of the RMD as a QCD keeps that money out of your income. That lowers your tax and the income Medicare will look at two years from now.

Third, size any Roth conversion. With the RMD and QCD settled, you can see how much room is left in your bracket. A conversion fills that room. Go too far and you can cross a Medicare surcharge line for 2028. For a NYPD or FDNY retiree in your fifties or sixties, the years before RMDs start are often the cheapest years you will ever have to convert, because the paycheck has stopped and the required withdrawals have not begun.

Fourth, if you are still working, max what you can in the 457 before your last paycheck, and check the Roth catch-up rule.

Last, the cash gifts. They are the most flexible piece and can be timed to whatever is left.

Every one of these has a tax effect that depends on your whole return. Treat this as the checklist to bring to your tax professional, not the answer itself.

Common questions

Can I make a 2026 Roth conversion in January or February 2027?

No. A conversion counts for the year it is completed. A conversion done in January 2027 is a 2027 conversion. Only IRA contributions can be made for 2026 after December 31, up to the April 2027 tax filing deadline.

I turned 73 this year. Do I have to take my RMD by December 31, 2026?

Not your first one. You can wait until April 1, 2027. But your 2027 RMD is still due by December 31, 2027, so waiting means two RMDs in 2027. If you still work for the City, your 457 RMD can start later, when you retire from City service.

Can I do a QCD from my NYC Deferred Compensation 457?

Not directly. A QCD has to come from an IRA. The money would have to be rolled to an IRA first, and rolled 457 money loses the 457's penalty-free early access. If you are 70 1/2 or older that penalty does not apply anyway, but check the rest of the move with us or your tax professional first.

Can I use the final-three-years catch-up and the age 50 catch-up in the same year?

No. The IRS and NYC DCP both say the special three-year catch-up (DAR) cannot be used in the same year as the age 50 catch-up, and DCP says the same for the ages 60 to 63 catch-up. You use whichever gives you more.

What is the most I can put in my 457 for 2026?

$24,500, or $32,500 at age 50 or older, or $35,750 if you turn 60 to 63 in 2026 and your plan allows it. In the three years before your plan's normal retirement age, DAR can raise it as high as $49,000 if you have unused room from earlier years.