Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Calculator

What an RMD is and why it exists

A Required Minimum Distribution is the minimum amount that the Internal Revenue Service requires you to withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach the RMD starting age. The policy logic is straightforward: contributions and earnings inside accounts like a Traditional IRA or 401(k) have never been taxed. The government granted that deferral with the understanding that taxes would eventually be paid. RMDs force the day of reckoning, ensuring tax-deferred dollars do not compound untaxed forever and that estates do not pass enormous untaxed balances to the next generation.

The RMD formula

The math is intentionally simple:

RMD = Account Balance on December 31 of prior year ÷ Distribution Period

In MathML:

$$RMD=\frac{Balance}{Period}$$

The distribution period comes from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table for most account owners. The table is essentially a published life-expectancy factor that decreases as you age, which is why RMDs as a percentage of the account balance grow over time. At age 73 the factor is 26.5, meaning the RMD is roughly 3.77 percent of the balance. By age 90, the factor is 12.2, or about 8.20 percent. By 100 it is 6.4, or about 15.6 percent.

Which accounts require RMDs

RMDs are required from:

• Traditional IRA
• SEP IRA
• SIMPLE IRA
• Rollover IRA
• 401(k) plans (traditional and Roth, for non-original owners under certain rules)
• 403(b) plans
• 457(b) governmental plans
• Variable annuities held inside an IRA or qualified plan

RMDs are not required during the original owner's lifetime from a Roth IRA. Under current law, Roth 401(k) lifetime RMDs have been eliminated as well — a meaningful change for high-balance savers who used to roll Roth 401(k) balances to Roth IRAs purely to avoid distribution requirements.

Key concepts: starting age, deadlines and the table choice

Starting age

The RMD starting age has shifted upward over the past decade. The current rule applies the age stored in this calculator's configuration; the law is scheduled to raise it again later this decade. The configuration in this tool reflects the current and scheduled future ages and the effective year for the change, so the calculator stays accurate without you remembering specific years.

First-year deadline

Your first RMD has a special deadline: you may delay it until April 1 of the year after the year you reach the RMD starting age. Every subsequent RMD must be taken by December 31. Deferring the first one into the next April means two RMDs land in the same calendar year — frequently a tax-bracket mistake.

Which table

Three tables exist:

• Uniform Lifetime Table — used by the vast majority of account owners.
• Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table — used when the sole primary beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger; produces lower RMDs.
• Single Life Expectancy Table — used for inherited account RMDs by eligible designated beneficiaries.

Worked example 1: standard Uniform Lifetime owner

Marcus has a Traditional IRA. The prior-year December 31 balance was $500,000. In the RMD year he reaches age 73. The Uniform Lifetime factor at 73 is 26.5.

• RMD = 500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92.
• That is approximately 3.77 percent of the account.
• If Marcus also has a 401(k) at a former employer, he must compute and take a separate RMD from that plan; he cannot aggregate it with the IRA.

Worked example 2: with growth projection

Now assume the IRA earns 5 percent during the year. Starting balance 500,000, RMD 18,867.92 taken, remaining 481,132.08 grows by 5 percent to about 505,189. The next year Marcus is 74, the factor is 25.5, the RMD is 505,189 ÷ 25.5 = $19,811.34. The dollar RMD has risen even though the balance is roughly flat — that is the table aging effect at work.

Comparison: when each table applies

Situation	Table	RMD outcome
Single owner / spouse beneficiary not >10 yrs younger	Uniform Lifetime	Standard
Sole spouse beneficiary >10 yrs younger	Joint Life	Lower
Eligible designated beneficiary of inherited IRA	Single Life	Higher
Non-designated beneficiary (estate)	5-year or owner's remaining life	Varies

Multiple accounts and aggregation

Aggregation rules differ by account type:

• Traditional IRAs (incl. SEP, SIMPLE): compute each RMD separately, then take the total from any one or combination of IRAs.
• 403(b): aggregate within 403(b) plans similar to IRAs.
• 401(k) and 457(b): each plan must take its own RMD. No cross-plan aggregation.

Brokerage and custodian reporting

Custodians report the prior-year December 31 fair-market value on Form 5498 and typically print a suggested RMD on the year-end statement. Many will offer an automatic distribution program. The custodian's number is calculated under the Uniform Lifetime Table by default — if the Joint Life Table applies to you, you may need to override or instruct the custodian.

The penalty for missing an RMD

The IRS imposes an excise tax on the shortfall — the amount you should have withdrawn but did not. The standard rate stored in this tool's configuration is the higher penalty; the reduced rate applies when you correct the missed RMD and file Form 5329 within the correction window the law allows. The penalty is one of the steepest in the tax code, but the correction provision means a quick discovery and fix is usually inexpensive.

Inherited RMDs

The 10-year rule

For most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited after the SECURE Act, the entire account must be emptied by December 31 of the tenth year following the original owner's death. If the original owner had already started RMDs, annual distributions are also required during years 1 through 9.

Eligible designated beneficiaries

Five categories may still use life-expectancy distributions:

• Surviving spouse
• Minor child of the original account owner (until majority, then 10-year clock)
• Disabled individual
• Chronically ill individual
• Beneficiary not more than 10 years younger than the deceased

Spouse vs non-spouse

A surviving spouse has unique options: treat the inherited IRA as their own (roll it into their own IRA), remain a beneficiary, or use a spousal election. Each has different RMD timing implications.

Inherited Roth IRA

Inherited Roth IRAs are also subject to the 10-year rule for non-eligible designated beneficiaries, but distributions are tax-free if the account met the 5-year rule. Roth IRAs avoid annual RMDs during the 10-year window because the original owner had no RMD obligation.

Edge cases

• Still working at an employer plan. Many 401(k) plans allow you to delay RMDs from that plan until you actually retire, even past the RMD age, as long as you are not a 5 percent owner. IRAs do not have this exception.
• Year of death. The owner's final RMD must still be taken in the year of death if it had not already been distributed; otherwise the beneficiary takes it.
• Roth conversion in the RMD year. You must take the RMD before converting any other dollars; RMD amounts are not eligible for conversion.
• QCD before RMD. Qualified Charitable Distributions count toward the RMD and exclude that amount from taxable income, but only direct-to-charity transfers from an IRA qualify, and only after the qualifying age.
• Account closed mid-year. If you take the full balance out, the distribution generally satisfies the RMD because it exceeded the minimum.

What to do with the result

• Schedule the withdrawal early. Take RMDs by mid-December at the latest. Last-week-of-the-year transactions go wrong every year.
• Withhold appropriately. Custodians can withhold federal income tax from the distribution, simplifying quarterly estimated taxes.
• Consider a QCD if you give to charity. A Qualified Charitable Distribution counts toward the RMD without adding taxable income, which is more efficient than taking the RMD and then donating.
• Plan Roth conversions before RMDs start. Each conversion done in the years between retirement and RMD age permanently shrinks the RMD base — see our Roth IRA calculator and our IRA calculator.
• Coordinate with Social Security and Medicare. RMD income can push you into IRMAA premium tiers; project carefully.

Minimizing the long-term tax cost of RMDs

Three levers tend to matter most: Roth conversions in the low-income window between retirement and the RMD starting age; Qualified Charitable Distributions during the RMD years for taxpayers who give to charity anyway; and asset location, with bond-heavy allocations placed in tax-deferred accounts so the RMD-required balance grows more slowly. None eliminates RMDs entirely — but they can reshape the trajectory significantly.

Use with the other money tools

For pre-retirement projection, see the retirement calculator and the 401(k) calculator. For Roth comparison work, the Roth IRA calculator and the IRA calculator show how account-type choices change the future RMD base.