Required Minimum Distribution Calculator

What does a required minimum distribution calculator work out?

A required minimum distribution calculator divides your tax-deferred account's balance on 31 December of last year by the IRS life-expectancy factor for the age you reach this year: the least you must withdraw before the deadline. It also gives your start year, the deadline, the excise tax on a missed amount and a projection.

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from most retirement accounts once you reach a certain age. The rule exists because money inside a traditional IRA, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) has never been taxed: Congress deferred the tax when the money went in, and the RMD rules ensure it is eventually taxed as ordinary income.

RMDs are calculated separately for each IRA you own, but you can satisfy all your IRA RMDs by taking the total from one or more of them. 401(k) and 403(b) RMDs must be taken from each plan separately, though some plans allow aggregation within the same employer plan. You cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD with an IRA withdrawal.

Missing an RMD triggers an excise tax — 25 % of the shortfall under the SECURE 2.0 Act (reduced to 10 % if you correct the mistake within the IRS correction window). For most people the easiest approach is to set a calendar reminder and check the amount each January.

How do you calculate your RMD?

The formula is simple: take the account's fair-market value on 31 December of the prior year and divide it by the Uniform Lifetime factor for the age you reach in the distribution year. The resulting figure is the minimum you must withdraw.

The IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Pub 590-B Appendix B Table III) lists one factor per age from 72 to 120. The factors come from the IRS regulations in T.D. 9930 (85 FR 72472, November 2020), in force for distribution years from 2022 and kept by the 2024 final RMD regulations (T.D. 10001); they are based on joint-life expectancies that assume a beneficiary 10 years younger — even if your actual beneficiary is closer in age. This assumption makes the divisor slightly larger and therefore the RMD slightly smaller than it would be using only your own life expectancy.

One common mistake: people use their current age rather than the age they will reach by 31 December of the distribution year. Because the IRS ages you as of your birthday in that calendar year, someone born in 1952 has their RMD for 2026 calculated at age 74 — even if their birthday is in late December.

At what age do RMDs start, and when is the first one due?

The SECURE 2.0 Act changed the RMD start age twice. For people born in 1950 or earlier, RMDs were already underway at age 72 (or 70½ for those born before July 1, 1949). For those born between 1951 and 1959, the start age is 73. For anyone born in 1960 or later, the start age is 75.

Your first RMD year is the calendar year in which you reach your start age. Someone born in 1952 reached 73 in 2025, so 2025 was their first RMD year and 2026 (age 74, factor 25.5) is a later year with a 31 December deadline. Someone born in 1960 reaches 75 in 2035, so no RMD is due before then; the calculator shows the first-year estimate instead.

Here is the trap: for your very first RMD only, you have until April 1 of the following year to take it. Every subsequent RMD must be taken by December 31. Taking the first RMD late (say, in early 2027) means you will also owe the second RMD for 2026 by December 31, 2026 — two RMDs in the same calendar year, both added to your ordinary income at once. Most advisers recommend taking the first RMD in the first RMD year to avoid the double tax hit.

What happens if you miss an RMD?

Missing all or part of an RMD triggers the IRC §4974 excise tax on the amount not withdrawn. Before the SECURE 2.0 Act (for years before 2023), the rate was 50 %. SECURE 2.0 §302 reduced it to 25 % for 2023 and later.

If you correct the shortfall within the IRS correction window — generally by the end of the second year following the year it was missed — the rate drops to 10 %.

To correct a missed RMD, take the distribution as soon as you notice the error and file IRS Form 5329 with your tax return. The IRS has historically been willing to waive the penalty for first-time, good-faith mistakes, but that waiver is not guaranteed and requires filing for it. The safest approach is simply not to miss the deadline.

There is no penalty for taking more than the RMD in any year. The extra amount is simply taxed as ordinary income. You can take the whole account balance at once if you choose — the RMD is the floor, not the ceiling.

What does this RMD calculator leave out?

Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMD rule. The Roth IRA exception exists under IRC §408A(c)(5): because Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars, Congress chose not to force distributions. Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts also have no pre-death RMD starting in 2024 (SECURE 2.0 §325).

Both Roth account types are shown in the account selector above with a $0 result and an explanation. Inherited IRAs follow a completely different set of rules that depend on who the beneficiary is (a spouse, an eligible designated beneficiary or a non-spouse beneficiary), when the original account owner died, and whether the 10-year rule applies. This calculator does not compute inherited-IRA RMDs. For help with inherited accounts, see the IRS RMD FAQs at irs.gov.

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your IRA and is more than 10 years younger than you, the IRS Joint Life Table (Pub 590-B Appendix B Table II) gives a higher divisor and therefore a smaller RMD than the Uniform Lifetime Table used here. This calculator uses the Uniform Lifetime Table for everyone; a checkbox in the Advanced section shows a note and links to the relevant IRS publication. For 401(k) or 403(b) participants who are still working for the plan sponsor and own less than 5 % of the company, you may be able to delay RMDs from that plan until you retire — see the still-working checkbox in Advanced. These are complex situations: consult your IRA custodian or a qualified tax professional before concluding they apply to you.