The date by which a qualified plan participant or IRA owner must begin receiving required minimum distributions from his or her retirement account. This date occurs on April 1 following the calendar year the participant reaches age 70.5. Some qualified plans may allow participants who have reached this age to delay the RBD until April 1 of the year following the year they retire. This option to delay the RBD, however, is not available to employees who own at least 5% of the business that adopted the qualified plan.