RMD Calculator

Your RMD equals your prior year-end (December 31) balance divided by the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for your age. At 73 the divisor is 26.5, so a $500,000 IRA requires $500,000 ÷ 26.5 = about $18,868 (3.8%) for the year. If you turn 73 in 2026 (born in 1953), that is your first RMD, due by April 1, 2027; if you were born in 1960 or later, RMDs start at 75 instead. This RMD calculator, a required minimum distribution calculator for IRAs and 401(k)s, does that math for any age and balance.

Not sure which retirement tool fits? Use this RMD calculator once you are 73+ and must draw down a pre-tax account; the Retirement Calculator to test whether your savings will last; the 401(k) Calculator and IRA Calculator to project a pre-tax balance during your working years; and the Roth IRA Calculator to grow money that never triggers a lifetime RMD.

How the RMD is calculated

The required minimum distribution uses one simple division:

The prior year-end balance is the fair market value of the account on December 31 of the previous year. The divisor (also called the distribution period or life-expectancy factor) comes from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table and depends only on your age. As you get older the divisor shrinks, so the percentage you must withdraw rises each year.

How much is my RMD by age and balance?

This matrix applies the exact IRS Uniform Lifetime Table formula (balance ÷ divisor) across common ages and account sizes, so you can read your annual RMD straight from the grid. All figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.

When RMDs start and when they are due

Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, RMDs begin in the year you turn 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1959, and in the year you turn 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. You may delay your very first RMD until April 1 of the following year, but every RMD after that, including the second one, is due by December 31. Delaying the first distribution means taking two RMDs in the same calendar year, which can push you into a higher tax bracket. Many people simply take their first RMD in the year they reach the starting age to avoid the double hit. One exception: if you still work for the employer that sponsors your 401(k) and own 5% or less of the company, that plan can let you wait until April 1 of the year after you retire. IRAs have no such exception.

People born in 1950 or earlier passed their starting age (70½ or 72 under older rules) before 2025 and take an RMD every year.

How to use this calculator

You only need two numbers to get an accurate result:

1. Distribution year: the year the RMD is for. It starts at the current year; switch it to check last year's or next year's amount.
2. Your age on your birthday that year: the calculator works out your birth year from it and applies the start age of 73 or 75. If you are not there yet, it shows the year your first RMD is due instead.
3. Balance on December 31 of the prior year: the account's fair market value on your year-end statement, not today's balance.
4. Read the result: it updates as you type, dividing the balance by the Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for your age and showing the dollar RMD, the deadline, the divisor used, the share of the account, and a monthly equivalent.

The result also lists the divisors for the ages around yours so you can see how next year's required amount is likely to grow.

Who this calculator is for

This tool is built for anyone who needs to take, or plan for, withdrawals from a tax-deferred retirement account. That includes:

• Retirees 73 and older who must withdraw a minimum amount from an IRA or 401(k) each year.
• People approaching their start age (73, or 75 if born in 1960 or later) who want to forecast their first RMD and plan the tax impact.
• Anyone with multiple IRAs who needs each account's RMD before deciding which account to draw from.
• Savers doing Roth conversions in their 60s, who want to see how much smaller their future RMDs become if they shrink the pre-tax balance now.
• Family members or advisors double-checking a withdrawal figure against the IRS table.

Key RMD terms explained

• RMD (required minimum distribution): the smallest amount you must withdraw from a tax-deferred account each year once you reach the RMD age (73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later).
• Divisor / distribution period: the life-expectancy factor from the IRS table. You divide your balance by it to get the RMD.
• Uniform Lifetime Table: the IRS table most owners use; it assumes a beneficiary 10 years younger than the owner.
• Joint Life and Last Survivor Table: the table you use instead when your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger; it produces a smaller RMD.
• QCD (qualified charitable distribution): a direct transfer from an IRA to charity that can satisfy your RMD while staying out of your taxable income.
• Excise tax: the penalty on any RMD you fail to take: 25% of the shortfall, reduced to 10% if corrected within two years.

A second worked example: age 80

RMDs grow as you age because the divisor falls. Say you are 80 with a $750,000 traditional IRA at last year-end. The Uniform Lifetime Table divisor at 80 is 20.2, so the RMD is $750,000 ÷ 20.2 = about $37,129, or roughly 5.0% of the account, noticeably higher than the 3.8% required at 73. By 90, with a divisor of 12.2, the same $750,000 would require about $61,475, or about 8.2%. The pattern is deliberate: the rules are designed to draw down tax-deferred savings over your expected lifetime.

RMD calculation example, step by step

Here is the full calculation for a 75-year-old with a $500,000 IRA at last December 31, following the same steps this calculator runs.

A third example: balance that has fallen

Because the RMD uses last December's value, a market drop during the year does not lower the amount you must take. Imagine you are 75 with a year-end balance of $400,000; the divisor is 24.6, giving an RMD of about $16,260. Even if the account fell to $360,000 by mid-year, you still must withdraw the full $16,260; it just represents a larger share of the smaller balance. This is why some retirees take their RMD early in the year and others wait, depending on their view of the market and their cash needs.

What changes the result the most

Two inputs drive the RMD, and a few rules can shift which table or amount applies:

• Account balance: the RMD scales directly with your prior year-end value: a larger balance means a larger required withdrawal.
• Your age: the divisor falls each year, so the required percentage climbs steadily over time.
• A much-younger spouse: a sole-beneficiary spouse more than 10 years younger moves you to the Joint Life table and lowers the RMD.
• Your birth year: born in 1960 or later, you start at 75 instead of 73, which gives two more years of tax-deferred growth before withdrawals are required.
• Roth balances: Roth IRAs and, since 2024, Roth accounts in 401(k) and 403(b) plans are excluded from lifetime RMDs, so converting can shrink future requirements.
• Inherited accounts: beneficiaries follow separate rules (often a 10-year payout), not the Uniform Lifetime Table used here.

How RMDs ripple through your tax bill

An RMD is not just a withdrawal; it is taxable income that can quietly raise the cost of other parts of retirement. Because distributions from pre-tax accounts are taxed as ordinary income, a large RMD can push you into a higher federal bracket and increase the share of your Social Security benefits that becomes taxable (up to 85% of benefits can be taxed once your combined income crosses the IRS thresholds). It can also trigger IRMAA, the income-related monthly adjustment amount that raises Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, which Social Security generally bases on your modified adjusted gross income from two years earlier. Retirees sometimes call this stacking of effects the "tax torpedo": one number on a year-end statement can ripple into three separate costs. Planning the timing and size of withdrawals, and using tools such as the Social Security Calculator and the Taxable Social Security Calculator to see how benefits and other income interact, helps you avoid an avoidable jump in your effective tax rate.

Why RMDs exist and how the divisors are set

Tax-deferred accounts let you postpone income tax for decades while your savings compound untaxed. RMDs are how the IRS eventually collects that deferred tax: the rules require you to draw the balance down gradually over your remaining life expectancy rather than passing it on untouched. That is why the divisor falls each year: it tracks a shrinking life-expectancy estimate, so the required percentage rises from about 3.8% at age 73 to about 15.6% at age 100 and 50% at 120 and over. The 2022 update to the Uniform Lifetime Table lengthened those life-expectancy assumptions, which raised the divisors and modestly lowered RMDs across every age compared with the prior table. Knowing the logic makes the year-over-year increase you see in this calculator predictable rather than surprising.

Uniform Lifetime Table divisors and withdrawal percentages (ages 73-95)

This is the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (in effect since 2022) that this calculator uses. The required percentage is simply 100 ÷ the divisor: divide your prior year-end balance by the divisor for your age to get the dollar RMD. The calculator also includes every age from 96 through 120 and over (for example 6.4 at 100, 4.6 at 105, 2.0 at 120 and over), exactly as printed in IRS Publication 590-B.

Tips for managing RMDs

• Take it on time: the excise tax on a missed RMD is steep, so calendar the December 31 deadline.
• Mind the first-year timing: deferring the first RMD to April 1 doubles up two RMDs in one year and can spike your taxes.
• Consider a QCD: if you give to charity, a qualified charitable distribution can satisfy the RMD without adding to taxable income.
• Withhold or plan estimates: RMDs are taxable, so arrange withholding or estimated payments to avoid an underpayment penalty.
• Reduce future RMDs early: Roth conversions in lower-income years before 73 shrink the pre-tax balance that future RMDs are based on.

Limitations and assumptions

This calculator is a planning estimate, not tax advice. Keep these assumptions in mind:

• It uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, which applies to most owners but not when a sole-beneficiary spouse is more than 10 years younger.
• It assumes you are the original account owner; inherited IRAs and 401(k)s follow different rules.
• It does not compute income tax on the distribution or any federal or state withholding.
• It does not handle the still-working exception for a current employer's 401(k); if it applies to you, that plan's RMD can wait until you retire.
• It does not aggregate multiple accounts or apply the IRA-vs-employer-plan aggregation rules; run each account separately.

How it compares to related calculators

This page answers "how much must I withdraw this year?" If you have a different question, a sister tool fits better:

• To see whether your savings will last through retirement, use the Retirement Calculator.
• To project a 401(k) balance with employer match, use the 401(k) Calculator.
• To estimate tax-free Roth growth (and avoid lifetime RMDs), use the Roth IRA Calculator.
• To model investment growth with contributions, use the Investment Calculator.
• To plan a steady drawdown rate across retirement, use the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator.
• To see how compounding builds the balance an RMD is later based on, use the Compound Interest Calculator.

Sources

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs (deadlines, the 25%/10% excise tax, aggregation, the still-working exception).
• IRS: Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from IRAs, Appendix B, Table III (Uniform Lifetime Table).
• IRS: Required Minimum Distribution Worksheets.
• Treasury and IRS: Proposed regulations on required minimum distributions, Federal Register, July 19, 2024 (applicable age 73 for people born in 1959).
• IRS: Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-33, T.D. 10001 (no lifetime RMDs from designated Roth accounts for years after 2023).
• IRS: Notice 2025-67 (2026 qualified charitable distribution limit of $111,000).