RMD Calculator

1. Enter your birth year and the RMD year. The tool works out your age on your birthday in that year and your starting age.
2. Enter the account balance on December 31 of the prior year. Run each IRA or plan account separately.
3. Say whether your spouse is the sole beneficiary. If yes, add the spouse's birth year. Then read the RMD, the deadline and the projection table.

A required minimum distribution is the smallest amount the IRS requires you to withdraw from a tax-deferred retirement account each year once you reach your applicable age. The rule stops people from keeping tax-deferred savings in an account forever.

RMD rules cover traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans, profit-sharing plans and other defined contribution plans. A Roth IRA has no RMD while the owner is alive, and the IRS says the same for designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b). Beneficiaries who inherit a Roth account do face RMD rules.

Withdrawals count as taxable income, except any part that was already taxed (your basis) or is a qualified Roth distribution. This calculator covers an owner's own account. It is not built for inherited IRAs, which use Table I and the 10-year rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries.

The RMD equals the prior year-end account balance divided by a distribution period from IRS Publication 590-B. The divisor comes from one of two tables for an owner during life.

1. Find your age on your birthday in the RMD year: RMD year minus birth year.
2. Check your starting age. The IRS final regulations set it by birth year: 73 for people born 1951 through 1959, and 75 for people born in 1960 or later.
3. Pick the table. Use Table III (Uniform Lifetime) unless your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger. In that case use Table II (Joint and Last Survivor) at both ages.
4. Divide the balance by the divisor. At 73 the Table III divisor is 26.5, so the RMD is 3.77% of the balance.

Starting Age by Birth Year

The 1959 row follows the IRS proposed rule that sets age 73, because the law named both 73 and 75 for that birth year.

You were born in 1953, so you turn 73 in 2026, your first RMD year. Your IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025. Your spouse is not more than 10 years younger, so Table III applies.

Calculation: $500,000 / 26.5 = $18,867.92. That is your 2026 RMD, due by April 1, 2027. If the account then earns 5% a year and you take only the RMD, the next years look like this:

Meaning: the RMD grows each year because the divisor falls faster than the balance. The IRS also gives two short examples in Publication 590-B. A $100,000 IRA at age 75 with a spouse 6 years younger uses 24.6, for an RMD of $4,065. With a spouse 11 years younger (age 64), Table II gives 25.3 and an RMD of $3,953.

Your balance and your age set almost all of the RMD. The beneficiary, the account type and your job status change it in specific cases.

Prior Year-end Balance

The RMD uses only the December 31 value of the year before. A market drop after that date does not lower this year's RMD. A rollover that was in no account on December 31 is added to the receiving IRA balance.

Your Age and the Shrinking Divisor

The Table III divisor falls from 26.5 at 73 to 20.2 at 80 and 12.2 at 90. The RMD share rises from 3.77% to 4.95% and then 8.20% of the balance.

A Much Younger Spouse as Sole Beneficiary

Table II gives a larger divisor and a smaller RMD. At owner age 73 and spouse age 60, the divisor is 28.6 instead of 26.5. On $300,000, that means $10,489.51 instead of $11,320.75, or $831.24 less.

Still Working

An employee in a 401(k) or similar plan can often delay RMDs from that plan until the year they retire, if the plan allows it. The delay does not apply to a 5% owner of the business or to IRAs.

Birth Year

Your birth year sets your starting age. Someone born in 1960 has no RMD at 73 and starts at 75, in 2035.

The Uniform Lifetime table is the default for owners, and the Joint and Last Survivor table replaces it only in one case. Table I is for beneficiaries of inherited accounts.

IRA vs 401(k) RMD Rules

You figure the RMD for each IRA separately, but you may take the combined total from one or more IRAs. The same total rule applies to 403(b) contracts. Each 401(k) or 457(b) plan RMD must be taken from that plan. Planning a Roth conversion to reduce future RMDs? Compare the account types in Roth vs traditional IRA.

Checking Your Custodian's Figure

Custodians often calculate the RMD for you, but the IRS says the owner is responsible for the correct amount. Enter the same balance and compare.

Planning Your First RMD Year

You may delay the first RMD to April 1 of the next year. In the example that puts $18,867.92 and $19,811.32, or $38,679.25, into 2027 income. Taking the first one by December 31 spreads the tax across two years.

Retirement Income Planning

The projection shows how required withdrawals grow. Pair it with a spending plan such as the 4 percent rule, or read the full walkthrough in required minimum distributions explained.

Before Age 73 or 75

Use the tool to see your first RMD year and a rough first amount, then test how growth changes it. How much you need to retire covers the savings side.

1. Using the Current Balance

The RMD uses the December 31 balance of the prior year, not today's value.

2. Using the Wrong Age

Use your age on your birthday in the RMD year, even if that birthday comes late in the year.

3. Using Table II for Any Spouse

Table II applies only when the spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger. A spouse 10 years younger uses Table III.

4. Taking One 401(k) RMD for Several Plans

IRA RMDs can be combined, but 401(k) and 457(b) RMDs must come from each plan.

5. Counting Extra Withdrawals Toward Next Year

The IRS FAQ says a distribution above the RMD cannot be applied to a future year.

6. Missing the Deadline

A shortfall may face a 25% excise tax, or 10% if corrected within two years. On a $10,000 shortfall that is $2,500, or $1,000. File Form 5329 and ask about a waiver for reasonable error.

7. Assuming Everyone Starts at 73

People born in 1960 or later start at 75.

The RMD for an owner's own account is exact when the balance, ages and beneficiary facts are right, because it uses the published IRS tables. The projection is an estimate, since returns vary.

Age 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1959, and age 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. The IRS final regulations set the age by birth year. Your first RMD is for the year you reach that age.

By April 1 of the year after you reach your starting age. Every later RMD is due by December 31. Waiting until April 1 means two RMDs are taxed in the same year.

It is $18,867.92 using the Table III divisor of 26.5. That is about 3.77% of the balance.

No, not while the owner is alive. Designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) are also exempt for the owner. Beneficiaries who inherit a Roth account must follow RMD rules.

Yes. You must figure the RMD for each IRA separately, but you may withdraw the total from one IRA or several. This does not work for 401(k) or 457(b) plans, which each need their own RMD.

The amount you did not withdraw may face a 25% excise tax. The rate drops to 10% if you correct it within two years. You report it on Form 5329 and can ask for a waiver for reasonable error.

Yes, you can always take more. The extra does not count toward future years, so next year's RMD is still due in full.

Often not from your current employer's plan, if the plan allows a delay until you retire. The delay does not apply to 5% owners or to IRAs.

No. The IRS says RMD amounts cannot be rolled over into another tax-deferred account.

Check the December 31 balance and the table they used first. Rounding to the dollar and outstanding rollovers added to the balance can also make small differences.

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. The Save button stores a result only in this browser on this device.

• IRS: Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs (Internal Revenue Service; age 73, the table choice, the 25% and 10% excise tax, aggregation rules).
• IRS: Retirement topics - Required minimum distributions (Internal Revenue Service; covered plans, required beginning date, still-working rule).
• IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from IRAs (Internal Revenue Service; Appendix B Tables II and III and the worked examples used here).
• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-33, required minimum distribution final regulations (Internal Revenue Service; applicable age 73 or 75 by birth year under SECURE 2.0, and the proposed 1959 rule).