RMD Calculator
Enter your account balance on December 31 of last year and your birth year. The calculator works out your age this year, looks up the distribution period for that age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table and divides the balance by it. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, it uses the IRS Joint and Last Survivor table instead. You get the RMD to the cent, or the year your first RMD is for if you have not reached the starting age.
How to use the RMD Calculator
- Enter the account balance at the close of business on December 31 of the year before the distribution year. For a 2026 RMD, that is the balance on your December 31, 2025 statement.
- Enter the distribution year, which is the year the RMD is for, and your birth year. The calculator uses your age as of your birthday in the distribution year.
- If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account and more than 10 years younger than you, tick the box and enter your spouse's birth year. The IRS joint table covers a spouse aged 20 or older.
- Press Calculate. You see the RMD, the distribution period and the IRS table it came from. If you are below your starting age, you see that age and the year of your first RMD instead.
- Have more than one traditional IRA? Run each balance on its own and add the results. The IRS lets you take the total from any one of the IRAs or split it across several.
The RMD formula
RMD = Balance on Dec 31 of the prior year ÷ Distribution period for your age this year
IRS Publication 590-B calls the distribution period the applicable denominator. You take it from Table III, the Uniform Lifetime Table, which starts at 27.4 for age 72 and falls to 2.0 for age 120 and over. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, you use Table II instead and read the factor where your age meets your spouse's age. That factor is higher, so the RMD is smaller. Both tables are in Appendix B of Publication 590-B and apply to RMDs for 2022 and later years. The calculator divides the balance by the factor exactly and rounds half up to the cent.
Worked example
You were born in 1951, so you turn 75 in 2026 and are past your starting age of 73. Your IRA held $500,000.00 on December 31, 2025. Table III gives a distribution period of 24.6 for age 75. Your 2026 RMD is $500,000.00 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20, due by December 31, 2026.
IRS Uniform Lifetime Table
The distribution period for each age in Table III of IRS Publication 590-B. It applies to unmarried owners, to married owners whose spouse is not more than 10 years younger and to married owners whose spouse is not the sole beneficiary.
| Age | Distribution period |
|---|---|
| 72 | 27.4 |
| 73 | 26.5 |
| 74 | 25.5 |
| 75 | 24.6 |
| 76 | 23.7 |
| 77 | 22.9 |
| 78 | 22.0 |
| 79 | 21.1 |
| 80 | 20.2 |
| 81 | 19.4 |
| 82 | 18.5 |
| 83 | 17.7 |
| 84 | 16.8 |
| 85 | 16.0 |
| 86 | 15.2 |
| 87 | 14.4 |
| 88 | 13.7 |
| 89 | 12.9 |
| 90 | 12.2 |
| 91 | 11.5 |
| 92 | 10.8 |
| 93 | 10.1 |
| 94 | 9.5 |
| 95 | 8.9 |
| 96 | 8.4 |
| Age | Distribution period |
|---|---|
| 97 | 7.8 |
| 98 | 7.3 |
| 99 | 6.8 |
| 100 | 6.4 |
| 101 | 6.0 |
| 102 | 5.6 |
| 103 | 5.2 |
| 104 | 4.9 |
| 105 | 4.6 |
| 106 | 4.3 |
| 107 | 4.1 |
| 108 | 3.9 |
| 109 | 3.7 |
| 110 | 3.5 |
| 111 | 3.4 |
| 112 | 3.3 |
| 113 | 3.1 |
| 114 | 3.0 |
| 115 | 2.9 |
| 116 | 2.8 |
| 117 | 2.7 |
| 118 | 2.5 |
| 119 | 2.3 |
| 120 and over | 2.0 |
Frequently asked questions
At what age do RMDs start?
It depends on your birth year. Born from 1951 to 1959, your first RMD is for the year you turn 73. Born in 1960 or later, it is for the year you turn 75. The SECURE 2.0 Act set these ages, and IRS final regulations from July 2024 apply them by birth year. Those regulations left 1959 open, and IRS proposed regulations from the same day put it at 73. If you were born in 1950 or earlier, your RMDs started under the older rules, and the calculator treats you as already taking them. Below your starting age it shows no RMD and names the year your first one is for.
Can I delay my first RMD?
Yes, the first one. You can take the RMD for the year you reach your starting age as late as April 1 of the next year. The RMD for that next year is still due by December 31, so you would take two in the same year. The calculator shows the RMD for the year you enter and does not add the two together.
Which table do I use if my spouse is my beneficiary?
Table II, the Joint and Last Survivor table, applies only if your spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger than you. Otherwise you use Table III, the Uniform Lifetime Table, even if you are married. Both ages are as of your birthdays in the distribution year. Publication 590-B has an example with a $100,000 balance, an owner turning 75 and a spouse turning 64. Table II gives 25.3, so the RMD is $3,952.57, which the IRS rounds to $3,953. Your marital status counts as of January 1, so a divorce or a death during the year changes the table from the following year.
What happens if I take less than my RMD?
The IRS says the amount you did not withdraw may be subject to a 25% excise tax. If you correct the shortfall in time, within two years, the rate drops to 10%. You report it on Form 5329 with your federal tax return.
Do Roth IRAs have RMDs?
Not while the owner is alive. The IRS says the RMD rules do not apply to Roth IRAs or to designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan during the owner's lifetime. Beneficiaries who inherit those accounts are subject to RMD rules. This calculator does not cover inherited accounts.
Does this work for a 401(k) or 403(b)?
The amount does. The IRS divides the prior year-end balance by a factor from the same tables for 401(k), 403(b) and other defined contribution plans. The start can be later. If your plan allows it and you are not a 5% owner of the business that sponsors it, you can wait until April 1 after the year you retire. The calculator does not ask whether you still work, so for a plan account it shows the RMD as if yours had already started.