RMD Calculator

Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are the amounts you must withdraw each year from traditional IRAs and most workplace retirement plans once you reach a certain age. This calculator finds the RMD for a given year from your account balance on December 31 of the previous year and your year of birth, using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. It tells you when your RMDs begin under the SECURE 2.0 Act and projects future RMDs and balances at the return you choose.

Roth IRAs have no RMDs during the owner's lifetime, and since 2024 neither do Roth accounts in workplace plans.

RMD = balance on December 31 of last year ÷ distribution factor for your age this year

The factor comes from the Uniform Lifetime Table in IRS Publication 590-B and falls each year, so the share you must withdraw rises with age: about 3.8% at 73, 5% at 80 and over 8% at 90. If your spouse is more than ten years younger and is your sole beneficiary, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor table instead, which gives a smaller RMD; this calculator uses the Uniform Lifetime Table.

• Born 1951 to 1959: the year you turn 73.
• Born 1960 or later: the year you turn 75.
• First RMD deadline: April 1 of the following year. Every later RMD is due by December 31. Delaying the first one means taking two in the same year, which can push you into a higher tax bracket.
• Still working: for a 401(k) with your current employer, you can usually wait until you retire, unless you own more than 5% of the company. This does not apply to IRAs.

First RMD at 73. Someone born in 1953 with $500,000 in an IRA at the end of 2025 must withdraw $18,867.92 for 2026, which is $500,000 ÷ 26.5.

At 80 with $1,000,000, the RMD is $49,504.95.

Born in 1962, no RMD is due until 2037, at 75. With $400,000 today growing 5% a year, the first RMD would be about $27,810.

Because RMDs grow as a share of the balance with age, a large traditional IRA can produce rising taxable income in your late 70s and 80s, which may also raise Medicare premiums and the taxable share of Social Security. Some people plan ahead in the years between retirement and the RMD start age, when income is often lower.

Common approaches include withdrawing more than required in low-income years, converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and paying the tax at a lower rate, and giving to charity directly from the IRA once you are eligible for qualified charitable distributions. Each has trade-offs, so compare them with a tax professional using your own numbers.

Missing an RMD triggers an excise tax of 25% of the amount not withdrawn, reduced to 10% if you correct it within two years. RMDs are taxed as ordinary income. You can take more than the minimum, take it in installments through the year, or satisfy it with a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA, which counts toward the RMD without adding to taxable income. If you have several IRAs, calculate each RMD separately; you may then take the total from any one or more of them. Workplace plan RMDs must come from each plan. Inherited accounts follow different rules.