RMD Calculator

Required Minimum Distributions are how the IRS eventually collects tax on money that's grown tax-deferred inside a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), or similar employer plan. Once you reach the applicable age, the tax code forces an annual withdrawal, sized by dividing your account balance from the prior December 31 by a life-expectancy divisor published in an IRS table. Nothing stops you from withdrawing more than this floor — but coming in under it triggers an excise tax on the shortfall.

Take your retirement account's fair-market value as of December 31 of the previous year and divide it by the distribution period for the age you'll turn during this year, found in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. For example, a $100,000 balance for someone turning 75 uses a divisor of 24.6, giving an RMD of $100,000 / 24.6 = $4,065.04.

Under SECURE 2.0, the RMD beginning age is 73 for anyone who turns 72 after December 31, 2022 and turns 73 before January 1, 2033. It rises to 75 starting with people who turn 74 after December 31, 2032. If you were born in 1950 or earlier, your beginning age was 72 under the prior rules.

Use the fair-market value of your account as of December 31 of the year immediately BEFORE the distribution year — not the current balance. For example, your 2026 RMD is based on your December 31, 2025 balance, even though you're withdrawing the money during 2026.

No. Roth IRAs have never required lifetime RMDs for the original owner, because Roth contributions are already taxed. As of 2024, SECURE 2.0 also removed lifetime RMDs for designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b), aligning their treatment with Roth IRAs. This calculator is intended for traditional (pre-tax) accounts that ARE subject to RMDs.

The IRS charges an excise tax on the shortfall — the amount you should have withdrawn but didn't. SECURE 2.0 reduced this penalty from 50% to 25% of the missed amount, and it drops further to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years by withdrawing the shortfall and filing the required form.

No. This calculator uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, which applies to the original account owner's own lifetime RMDs. Inherited (beneficiary) IRAs follow separate rules — typically the 10-year rule introduced by the SECURE Act, or in some cases the Single Life Expectancy Table — which produce different required amounts. Consult a tax advisor or the IRS's inherited-IRA guidance for those accounts.

In that specific case, the IRS requires you to use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table (Table II) instead of the Uniform Lifetime Table used here. Table II produces a larger divisor — and therefore a smaller required RMD — because it factors in both spouses' life expectancies. This calculator uses the standard Uniform Lifetime Table, which covers the vast majority of account owners.

For multiple traditional IRAs, yes — the IRS lets you calculate the RMD for each IRA separately and then withdraw the total from any one IRA or combination of them. For 401(k) and other employer-plan accounts, RMDs generally must be calculated and withdrawn separately from each plan; you cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD by withdrawing extra from an IRA.

Your very first RMD can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you reach your RMD beginning age (a 'required beginning date'). Every RMD after that first one is due by December 31 of that year. Delaying the first RMD to the following April means you could owe two RMDs in the same calendar year, which may push you into a higher tax bracket — many people choose to take the first RMD in the same year they turn the beginning age instead.

Yes, for a traditional (pre-tax) IRA or 401(k), the full RMD amount is generally taxed as ordinary income in the year you withdraw it, just like any other distribution from these accounts. This calculator computes the required withdrawal amount only — it does not estimate the resulting tax.

IRA owners age 70½ or older can direct up to the annual QCD limit directly to a qualified charity, and that amount counts toward satisfying the RMD without being included in taxable income. This calculator does not model QCDs — it shows the total RMD you're required to withdraw before considering any QCD offset.

RMDs apply to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and employer-sponsored pre-tax plans such as 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) accounts, as long as they're still owned by the original account holder. Roth IRAs are excluded entirely, and since 2024 designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b) are excluded as well. If you hold several of these account types, each one's RMD is figured separately using that account's own prior year-end balance.