Find your required minimum distribution for 2026 based on your age and account balance โ and see how the SECURE 2.0 rules, penalties, and tax impact affect what you must withdraw.
This RMD calculator applies the standard IRS methodology for account owners โ not inherited IRA beneficiaries, who use a different table. Enter your prior year-end account balance (December 31, 2025, for 2026 RMDs), your age as of December 31, 2026, and the calculator returns your minimum distribution using the correct Uniform Lifetime Table factor. You can run scenarios across multiple accounts: total RMD amounts from all your traditional IRAs can be aggregated and taken from any one or combination of those accounts. 401(k) RMDs, by contrast, must be taken separately from each plan. Roth IRAs have no RMD requirement for original owners; Roth 401(k) RMDs were also eliminated starting in 2024.
1. Enter your December 31, 2025, account balance for each pre-tax retirement account subject to RMDs.
2. Enter your age as of December 31, 2026 โ this selects the correct Uniform Lifetime Table distribution period.
3. If your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, check that box (a different, longer table applies).
4. Add additional accounts if needed โ the calculator sums them for total IRA RMD flexibility.
5. Optionally enter an assumed annual return to see how the balance and RMDs change in future years.
6. Click Calculate to see your 2026 RMD amount, estimated federal tax owed, and a year-by-year RMD schedule.
The RMD formula is straightforward:
RMD = Prior December 31 Account Balance รท IRS Uniform Lifetime Table Distribution Period
The distribution period (also called the "life expectancy factor") comes from IRS Publication 590-B. Key benchmarks: age 73 factor is 26.5, age 75 factor is 24.6, age 80 factor is 20.2 (Thrivent). A $500,000 balance at age 73 produces an RMD of $500,000 รท 26.5 = $18,868. The factor decreases each year, meaning the percentage you must withdraw grows gradually over time. The withdrawn amount is added to ordinary income and taxed at your marginal federal rate.
Your RMD is a floor, not a ceiling. You can always withdraw more โ but the minimum must come out by December 31 (or April 1 of the following year for your very first RMD). That first-year April 1 deadline is a trap for many new retirees: taking it late means two RMDs in one calendar year, potentially pushing income into a higher bracket and increasing Medicare premiums.
The SECURE 2.0 Act changed the RMD starting age in a way that depends entirely on your birth year. If you were born 1951โ1959, your RMD age is 73 โ the rule that took effect in 2023. If you were born 1960 or later, your RMD age climbs to 75, effective 2033 for most in that cohort. There is no 74-year RMD age: Congress skipped it.
This phased approach means a 68-year-old in 2026 who was born in 1958 starts RMDs at 73 (2031), while a colleague born in 1961 doesn't start until 2036. Getting your birth year group right is the single most important input in this calculator โ using the wrong age adds or removes years of tax-deferred compounding.
One more nuance: if you were still working at 73+ and your current employer's plan allows it, you may be able to delay RMDs from that plan until you retire. This "still-working exception" doesn't apply to IRAs or plans from former employers.
Missing or underpaying an RMD used to carry a 50% penalty โ one of the harshest in the tax code. SECURE 2.0 cut it to 25% of the shortfall, and further reduced it to 10% if you take the missed distribution and file Form 5329 within a two-year correction window (Motley Fool). The IRS can also grant penalty waivers in cases of reasonable cause.
Still, even 10% on a missed $20,000 RMD is $2,000 wasted. Common causes of underpayment: forgetting a small inherited IRA, miscounting accounts, assuming a rollover balance is excluded, or dying before year-end without authorizing the estate to take the distribution. The calculator flags these scenarios.
RMDs are taxable income โ full stop. But how they affect your overall tax picture is manageable with planning:
Roth conversions before RMD age. Every dollar you convert to a Roth IRA before turning 73 reduces the pre-tax balance subject to future RMDs. A $100,000 conversion at a 22% rate costs $22,000 in tax today but removes that $100,000 (plus all future growth) from the RMD calculation permanently.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). If you're 70ยฝ or older, you can transfer up to $108,000 directly from your IRA to a qualifying charity in 2026. The QCD counts toward your RMD but is excluded from taxable income โ a meaningful benefit for charitably inclined retirees in higher brackets.
Aggregating IRA RMDs. You can combine RMDs from all your traditional IRAs and take the total from whichever accounts hold the least-appreciated or most liquid assets, giving appreciated assets more time to grow.
The primary driver of your RMD is your account balance on December 31 of the prior year โ market swings during the year don't affect the calculation. Your age (and corresponding Uniform Lifetime Table factor) is the divisor; the factor shrinks each year, mechanically increasing the percentage withdrawn. Your filing status and total income determine what bracket the RMD lands in โ RMDs commonly push Social Security benefits from partially to fully taxable, triggering the "torpedo tax." Whether your beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger can lengthen the distribution period significantly, reducing annual RMDs. For inherited IRAs, the 10-year rule applies to most non-spouse beneficiaries under current law, requiring full depletion by year 10.
Margaret's December 31, 2025 balance was $625,000. Her age 73 Uniform Lifetime Table factor is 26.5. Her 2026 RMD: $625,000 รท 26.5 = $23,585. Added to her $28,000 pension income, her total is $51,585 โ landing in the 22% bracket for a single filer. Margaret takes her RMD in January to get it done, keeps the rest invested, and reinvests the after-tax proceeds in a taxable brokerage account.
Robert's age 80 factor is 20.2 (Thrivent). IRA RMD: $410,000 รท 20.2 = $20,297; 401(k) RMD must be taken separately: $195,000 รท 20.2 = $9,653. Total RMDs: $29,950. Robert's combined income crosses the threshold where 85% of his Social Security becomes taxable, pushing his effective rate higher than his marginal rate alone would suggest โ a classic RMD tax torpedo.
1. Take your first RMD by December 31 of your RMD year, not April 1 of the following year, unless you're comfortable doubling up in year two.
2. Automate annual distributions through your IRA custodian โ most allow you to set a recurring December withdrawal so you never miss a deadline.
3. Run Roth conversion scenarios in your 60s while income is potentially lower; each dollar converted now shrinks future RMD obligations.
4. Use QCDs for charitable giving instead of writing a check from after-tax dollars โ the tax-exclusion benefit makes QCDs more efficient than a standard charitable deduction for most retirees.
5. Rebalance inside the RMD withdrawal. Take the required minimum from your most overweight asset class and reinvest the remainder to stay on target.
6. Check all accounts, including small IRAs from old employers. The IRS counts each account separately in certain plan types; a forgotten $40,000 rollover IRA can generate a missed-RMD penalty.
A: If you were born between 1951 and 1959, your RMD age is 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, your RMD age is 75. SECURE 2.0 eliminated the old age-72 rule (Motley Fool).
A: Divide your prior December 31 account balance by the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table distribution period for your age. At 73 the factor is 26.5; at 75 it's 24.6; at 80 it's 20.2 (Thrivent).
A: The penalty is 25% of the shortfall. It drops to 10% if you take the missed distribution and file IRS Form 5329 within two years (Motley Fool).
A: No โ Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions for the original account owner. Roth 401(k)s also had their RMD requirement eliminated starting in 2024.
A: Yes โ the RMD is a minimum. You can withdraw any additional amount, though all withdrawals from a pre-tax account are added to ordinary income.
A: Yes โ you can aggregate the RMD amounts from all your traditional IRAs and satisfy the total from any single IRA or combination of IRAs. This flexibility does not extend to 401(k) or 403(b) plans.
A: A QCD is a direct transfer of up to $108,000 per year from your IRA to a qualified charity, available to account owners aged 70ยฝ or older. It counts toward your RMD but is excluded from taxable income.
A: Your estate or named beneficiary must take any RMD you didn't complete in your year of death. Inherited IRAs for most non-spouse beneficiaries are now subject to the 10-year depletion rule under SECURE 2.0.
Brief disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for educational and planning purposes only. Actual RMD amounts, distribution periods, and tax treatment depend on IRS regulations, your specific account balances, and applicable tax laws. SECURE 2.0 provisions and Uniform Lifetime Table factors referenced reflect current 2026 data. Results should be treated as planning guidance rather than tax or investment advice.