After you put money into tax-free retirement accounts, you’ll eventually face mandatory withdrawals in retirement, known as required minimum distributions, or RMDs.

Because RMDs can result in higher taxes, the withdrawals can be a hassle for some retirees who don’t need the money. But the annual activity could provide an opportunity to improve your portfolio, experts say.

“Ultimately, you look at your portfolio and say, ‘What do I want to cut?'” says certified financial planner Matthew Saneholtz, chief investment officer and senior wealth advisor at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, Florida.

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Starting in 2023, due to changes introduced by Secure 2.0, most retirees will have to begin taking RMDs at age 73. Starting in 2033, that age will rise to 75.

While the annual RMD deadline is December 31, you have until April 1 following the year you turn 73 to take your first RMD. If you skip annual RMDs or don’t take enough out in a given year, you’ll be assessed a 25% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn.

Your asset allocation, or investment mix, will change throughout the year with market movements, but you can use RMDs to shift assets back to intended percentages based on risk tolerance, goals, and timeline.

“Each of my clients has a specific target allocation for their assets, so I sell a portion of the asset class or classes in which they are currently overweight,” says Paul Winter, CFP and president of Five Seasons Financial Planning in Salt Lake City, Utah. Typically, these are U.S. stocks.

When weighing which assets to sell, avoid selling investments when prices are declining to avoid what’s known as sequence of returns risk, which can shrink your portfolio over time, experts say.

Withdrawing assets during a stock market decline could mean having to sell more investments for the same RMD amount, which could leave fewer investments to generate future growth when the market recovers.

You can also use RMDs to adjust your “tax domicile,” or the type of investments in certain accounts, to minimize future taxes, Saneholtz said.

Withdrawals from tax-free retirement accounts are subject to regular income taxes, depending on your federal tax bracket, and brokerage accounts are subject to capital gains taxes. Roth accounts, on the other hand, generally grow tax-free.

If you don’t need the RMD, you can reinvest the funds in a brokerage account. While this move wouldn’t reduce taxes for the current year, future asset growth could qualify for more favorable capital gains tax treatment.