RMD Calculator
Find your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA or 401(k) with the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, plus your RMD age (73/75) and deadline.
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What is a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?
A Required Minimum Distribution is the minimum amount the IRS makes you withdraw each year from tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach your RMD age. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act that age is 73 (born 1951–1959) or 75 (born 1960 or later). This calculator uses the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table to find your distribution period, divides your prior year-end balance by it, and shows your RMD, the December 31 deadline, and the penalty for missing it.
How RMDs are calculated
Your RMD equals your account balance on December 31 of the prior year divided by a distribution period (a life-expectancy factor) from an IRS table. Most owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table; if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, you use the longer Joint Life and Last Survivor Table, which lowers your RMD. RMDs apply to Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s — but NOT to Roth IRAs during the owner's lifetime, and (since 2024) not to Roth 401(k)s either.
RMD formula
RMD = Prior year-end balance ÷ IRS distribution periodHow to use this RMD calculator
Enter your account balance as of December 31 of last year.
Enter the age you reach this year.
Pick your account type (Traditional IRA, 401(k), 403(b), SEP, or SIMPLE).
If your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, switch on the Joint Life table and enter their age.
Optionally add your marginal tax rate and an expected growth rate.
Read your RMD, the December 31 deadline, the penalty, and the 10-year projection.
Common use cases
Your first RMD year
Turning 73 or 75? See your first-year RMD and remember the one-time April 1 deadline for the first distribution.
Comparing your accounts
Check the RMD on each IRA and 401(k). IRAs can be aggregated and taken from one account; employer plans cannot.
Younger-spouse households
A sole-beneficiary spouse more than 10 years younger lowers your RMD through the IRS Joint Life table.
Tax planning and QCDs
Estimate the tax, then consider a Qualified Charitable Distribution to satisfy your RMD without adding to taxable income.
Why use this RMD calculator?
Know your exact RMD
It divides your balance by the current IRS distribution factor so you withdraw at least the required minimum and avoid the excise tax.
See your RMD age — 73 or 75
SECURE 2.0 changed the start age. Enter your age and the tool shows whether you're subject yet and the exact year your first RMD is due.
Avoid the 25% penalty
Miss an RMD and the IRS levies a 25% excise tax on the shortfall (10% if corrected in time). We show the dollar penalty so the stakes are clear.
Plan the tax hit
RMDs are taxed as ordinary income. Add your marginal rate to see the after-tax amount, and use the 10-year projection to plan ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Under SECURE 2.0, RMDs begin at age 73 if you were born 1951–1959, and at 75 if you were born 1960 or later (72 for those born 1950 or earlier). You must take your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reach that age, and every RMD after that by December 31.
Divide your account balance on December 31 of the prior year by the IRS distribution period for your age from the Uniform Lifetime Table. Example: a $500,000 IRA at age 73 uses a factor of 26.5, so the RMD is 500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,868.
SECURE 2.0 cut the excise tax from 50% to 25% of the amount you failed to withdraw, and to just 10% if you take the missed distribution and file Form 5329 within the correction window (generally two years).
No. Roth IRAs have no RMD during the original owner's lifetime, and since 2024 Roth 401(k)s no longer require lifetime RMDs either. Inherited Roth accounts, however, can still be subject to RMD rules.
For IRAs (Traditional, SEP, SIMPLE) you calculate each account’s RMD but may withdraw the combined total from any one IRA. RMDs from 401(k) and 403(b) plans must be taken separately from each plan.
December 31 of each year. The one exception is your very first RMD, which you can delay until April 1 of the following year — but then two RMDs fall in the same tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket.
Yes. RMDs from tax-deferred accounts are taxed as ordinary income. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) — money sent directly from your IRA to a charity, up to the annual limit — can satisfy your RMD without the amount being taxed.
For your current employer’s 401(k) or 403(b), if you own 5% or less of the company you can delay RMDs until you actually retire (the "still-working exception"). IRAs and plans from former employers still require RMDs at your RMD age.