RMD Calculator

How a required minimum distribution is calculated

Once you reach your RMD age, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount each year from traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and most 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) accounts. For most owners the formula is short:

RMD for 2026 = account balance on December 31, 2025 ÷ distribution period for your 2026 age (Uniform Lifetime Table)

"Your age" means the age you reach on your birthday in 2026, whether or not the birthday has passed yet. The distribution period shrinks every year, so the share you must withdraw rises with age: about 3.8% at 73, 5% at 80 and 8.2% at 90.

When RMDs start

The first RMD may be delayed until April 1 of the following year. Every later RMD is due by December 31. Delaying the first one means taking two RMDs in the same calendar year, which can push you into a higher tax bracket.

Uniform Lifetime Table (selected ages)

The calculator uses every age in Table III of IRS Publication 590-B. It applies to unmarried owners, married owners whose spouse is not more than 10 years younger, and owners whose spouse is not the sole beneficiary. If your spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, Table II (Joint and Last Survivor) gives a longer period and a smaller RMD.

Worked examples

First RMD year. Born in 1953, you turn 73 in 2026. With $500,000 in a traditional IRA on December 31, 2025, the RMD is 500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92. You can take it any time in 2026 or wait until April 1, 2027. If you wait, the 2027 RMD is also due by December 31, 2027.

Later year. Born in 1950, you turn 76 in 2026. The same $500,000 balance gives 500,000 ÷ 23.7 = $21,097.05, due by December 31, 2026.

Older owner. At 86 with $300,000: 300,000 ÷ 15.2 = $19,736.84.

Not yet. Born in 1958, you turn 68 in 2026; your first RMD is for 2031, the year you turn 73.

The projection table withdraws each year's RMD and grows the rest at the return you enter, so you can see how RMDs and the balance may change over ten years.

Several accounts

• IRAs: figure the RMD for each traditional IRA separately, then you may withdraw the total from any one or more of them.
• 403(b) accounts can be combined the same way among themselves.
• 401(k) and 457(b) plans: each plan's RMD must come from that plan.
• Still working: if you are still employed and do not own more than 5% of the company, that employer's plan usually lets you delay RMDs until you retire. This does not apply to IRAs.

Accounts without RMDs

Roth IRAs have no RMDs while the original owner is alive, and since 2024 neither do Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts. Beneficiaries who inherit an account follow different rules, often the 10-year rule, which this calculator does not cover.

Missing an RMD

If you withdraw less than required, the shortfall is subject to a 25% excise tax, reduced to 10% if you take the missed amount and file Form 5329 within the correction window. The IRS can waive the tax for a reasonable error that is being fixed; explain it on Form 5329.

Ways to manage RMD taxes

• Qualified charitable distributions: from age 70½, money sent directly from an IRA to a charity counts toward your RMD and is not taxable income.
• Withholding: you can have federal tax withheld from the distribution instead of making estimated payments.
• Timing: taking the RMD early in the year is simplest; taking it in December leaves money invested longer. Either satisfies the rule.

RMDs are taxed as ordinary income (except any after-tax basis). Results are estimates; your plan administrator or IRA custodian reports the official figure.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements: required beginning date, Table III (Uniform Lifetime), excess accumulations tax.
• Internal Revenue Service. Retirement topics: Required minimum distributions (RMDs).
• Internal Revenue Service. Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs.

Last reviewed 2 November 2026. Results are estimates; see our disclaimer.