US RMD Calculator

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the smallest amount the IRS makes you take out of a tax-deferred retirement account each year once you reach your starting age. You can always take more. The money you take out is taxed as ordinary income (except any part that was never taxed going in, such as non-deductible IRA contributions).

The formula

RMD for this year = balance on December 31 of last year ÷ IRS factor for the age you reach this year
age this year = this year − year of birth
share of balance = 1 ÷ factor
excise tax if missed = amount not taken × 25% (10% if corrected in time)
projection: next balance = balance × (1 + return) − RMD

Worked example

You were born in 1953, so under SECURE 2.0 your RMDs start at 73, and you turn 73 in 2026. Your traditional IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025. The Uniform Lifetime Table factor for age 73 is 26.5, so your 2026 RMD is $500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92, which is 3.77% of the balance or $1,572.33 a month. At a 22% tax rate it adds $4,150.94 to your federal tax. If you missed it, the excise tax would be $18,867.92 × 25% = $4,716.98, or $1,886.79 at 10% if fixed in time.

It is your first RMD, so you can wait until April 1, 2027. If the IRA grows 5% and you take the RMD at the end of 2026, it ends the year at $500,000 × 1.05 − $18,867.92 = $506,132.08, and your 2027 RMD (age 74, factor 25.5) is $506,132.08 ÷ 25.5 = $19,848.32. If instead you wait until April 1, 2027, the December 31, 2026 balance is $525,000, so you take two RMDs in 2027: $18,867.92 + $525,000 ÷ 25.5 ($20,588.24) = $39,456.16, all taxed in 2027.

Starting age by year of birth (SECURE 2.0)

The law as written left people born in 1959 with two possible ages (73 and 75); the IRS's proposed rules use 73, which is what this calculator uses.

IRS Uniform Lifetime Table

Used by almost every account owner (Table III in IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B, in use since 2022). Find the age you reach by December 31.

Rules worth knowing

• Several IRAs: work out the RMD for each traditional IRA, then you can take the total from any one or more of them. 403(b)s can be combined the same way with each other. Each 401(k) or 457(b) must pay out its own RMD.
• Still working: if you still work for the employer that runs your 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) and don't own more than 5% of the business, that plan's RMDs can usually wait until April 1 after the year you retire (if the plan allows it). This never applies to IRAs.
• Roth accounts: Roth IRAs have no RMDs while you are alive, and Roth money in a 401(k) or 403(b) has had none since 2024.
• Spouse more than 10 years younger: if your spouse is the sole beneficiary all year, use the Joint and Last Survivor table (Table II) for a larger factor and a smaller RMD. Enter that factor in Advanced mode; future years in the table use the Uniform table, which is the cautious choice.
• QCDs: from 70½ you can send IRA money straight to a charity (a qualified charitable distribution), up to $111,000 for 2026. It counts toward your RMD and isn't taxed.
• Missed RMD: the excise tax is 25% of what you didn't take, cut to 10% if you take it and fix it within the correction window (generally two years). File Form 5329; the IRS can waive it for a reasonable error you are fixing.

Inherited IRAs

Beneficiaries follow different rules, and this calculator is for your own accounts. Since 2020 most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty an inherited IRA by the end of the 10th year after the year the owner died (the 10-year rule). If the owner had already started RMDs, yearly RMDs are also needed in years 1 to 9, using the beneficiary's own single life expectancy. A spouse, a minor child of the owner, someone disabled or chronically ill, or someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner (eligible designated beneficiaries) can usually stretch withdrawals over their life expectancy instead, and a spouse can treat the IRA as their own.

Rules from IRS Publication 590-B and IRS news release IR-2024-309. Rules and the QCD limit can change; check with the IRS or your account provider before you act. This calculator assumes a steady return each year. Not tax advice.