RMD calculator
Work out this year's required minimum distribution from your IRA or 401(k), the year your RMDs start, and the next ten years.
Your required minimum distribution for 2026, at age 74:
$19,607.84
$500,000 on 31 December 2025 divided by 25.5, the Uniform Lifetime Table figure for age 74. Due by 31 December 2026.
RMDs year by year at 5% a year, before tax. Each balance is the one on 31 December of the year before.
| Year | Age | Balance | Divisor | RMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 74 | $500,000 | 25.5 | $19,608 |
| 2027 | 75 | $504,412 | 24.6 | $20,505 |
| 2028 | 76 | $508,103 | 23.7 | $21,439 |
| 2029 | 77 | $510,997 | 22.9 | $22,314 |
| 2030 | 78 | $513,117 | 22.0 | $23,323 |
| 2031 | 79 | $514,283 | 21.1 | $24,374 |
| 2032 | 80 | $514,405 | 20.2 | $25,466 |
| 2033 | 81 | $513,386 | 19.4 | $26,463 |
| 2034 | 82 | $511,269 | 18.5 | $27,636 |
| 2035 | 83 | $507,815 | 17.7 | $28,690 |
| 2036 | 84 | $503,081 | 16.8 | $29,945 |
Not modeled: income tax on the RMD, the still-working exception for a current employer's 401(k), inherited accounts (see the inherited IRA calculator) and Roth IRAs, which have no RMDs for the owner. Each year's RMD is treated as taken at the start of the year. The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.
Worked example: a required minimum distribution at 74
Worked example, not a forecast: born in 1952, with $500,000 in a traditional IRA on 31 December 2025. RMDs start at 73, so 2026 is a distribution year at age 74. The Uniform Lifetime Table gives a distribution period of 25.5 years: $500,000 divided by 25.5 is $19,608. The table runs the next years at an assumed 5% a year before inflation, taking each RMD at the start of the year.
Born 1952, $500,000 at the end of 2025, 5% a year, no spouse more than 10 years younger.
| Year | Age | RMD | Balance on 31 December before | Distribution period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 74 | $19,608 | $500,000 | 25.5 |
| 2027 | 75 | $20,505 | $504,412 | 24.6 |
| 2028 | 76 | $21,439 | $508,103 | 23.7 |
| 2029 | 77 | $22,314 | $510,997 | 22.9 |
| 2030 | 78 | $23,323 | $513,117 | 22.0 |
| 2031 | 79 | $24,374 | $514,283 | 21.1 |
How the number is worked out
Take the balance on 31 December of last year and divide it by the distribution period for the age you reach this year. The periods come from the Uniform Lifetime Table in the Treasury regulations: 26.5 years at 73, falling each year, so the share you must take rises as you age.
If your spouse is your only beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, a different table applies, the Joint and Last Survivor Table, using both your ages. Its periods are longer, so the RMD is smaller. Enter your spouse's year of birth to use it.
The years before RMDs start
The pre-tax part of every RMD is taxed as ordinary income. If you made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA, the return of that after-tax basis is not taxed again; Form 8606 tracks it. A large pre-tax balance can mean RMDs that push you into a higher bracket in your seventies, on top of Social Security. The years between stopping work and your RMD age are often the lowest-income years you will have, which is why people convert part of their IRA to a Roth then.
The Roth conversion calculator shows the tax on a conversion this year and how much fits in your bracket. If you inherited an account, use the inherited IRA RMD calculator: the rules are different.
Questions people ask
- How do I calculate my RMD?
- Divide the balance on 31 December of last year by the distribution period for the age you reach this year, from the Uniform Lifetime Table (unless your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, when the Joint and Last Survivor Table applies). In the worked example above, $500,000 divided by 25.5 is $19,608 for someone aged 74. The calculator does the same sum for your birth year and balance.
- What is the RMD on $500,000?
- For someone aged 74 with $500,000 in a traditional IRA on 31 December of last year, the RMD is $19,608: the distribution period at that age is 25.5 years (unless your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, when the Joint and Last Survivor Table applies). It rises as a share of the account each year, because the period falls. Enter your own balance and birth year for your figure.
- At what age do RMDs start?
- 72 if you were born in 1950 or earlier (70½ if born before July 1949), 73 if you were born from 1951 to 1958, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Born in 1959? The final regulations leave your age open; the proposed rule says 73, which this calculator uses.
- When is the first RMD due?
- By 1 April of the year after you reach your RMD age. Every later RMD is due by 31 December. Waiting until April puts two RMDs in one tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket.
- What if I miss an RMD?
- An excise tax of 25% of the amount you should have taken, cut to 10% if you take it within the correction window. Taking it as soon as you notice is what lowers the rate.
- Do I take an RMD from each IRA?
- You work out the RMD for each traditional IRA and can take the total from any one or more of them. A 401(k) and most other workplace plans are different: each plan's RMD comes out of that plan. 403(b) contracts are the exception, below.
- Can I combine RMDs from several 403(b) accounts?
- Yes, in the same way as IRAs, if you hold them as an employee. The RMD is worked out for each 403(b) contract, and the total can be taken from any one or more of them. A 403(b) RMD cannot be met from an IRA, or the reverse.
- Does a Roth IRA have RMDs?
- Not while the owner is alive. Beneficiaries of an inherited Roth IRA do have rules to follow; the inherited IRA calculator covers them.
Sources: 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9 (Uniform Lifetime and Joint and Last Survivor Tables), 1.401(a)(9)-5, IRC §401(a)(9), IRC §4974, 1.403(b)-6(e)(7) (combining 403(b) RMDs) and IRS Publication 590-B.