What this calculator shows you
- Your Start Age
- 73 if born 1951 to 1959, 75 if born 1960 or later
- This Year's RMD
- Balance ÷ the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor
- Year-by-Year Table
- Every future RMD and what's left
- Missed-RMD Penalty
- 25%, or 10% if fixed within 2 years
What an RMD Is
Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and similar accounts let your money grow without tax for decades. Eventually the IRS wants its share, so once you reach a certain age you must withdraw at least a minimum amount each year. That minimum is your required minimum distribution, and it's taxed as ordinary income.
When RMDs Start
Under SECURE 2.0, RMDs start the year you turn 73 if you were born from 1951 to 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Your first RMD can wait until April 1 of the following year, but every later one is due by December 31, so delaying the first means taking two in the same year. If you still work and don't own 5% or more of the company, RMDs from that employer's 401(k) can usually wait until you retire.
How It's Calculated
Take the account balance on December 31 of last year and divide it by the factor in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table for the age you reach this year. At 73 the factor is 26.5, so a $500,000 IRA requires about $18,868. The factor shrinks every year, so the required share grows: about 3.8% at 73, about 5% at 80, and about 8.2% at 90.
If You Miss One
The penalty is a 25% excise tax on the amount you should have taken. If you take the missed amount and file a corrected return within two years, it drops to 10%. The IRS can also waive it for reasonable errors that you fix promptly; you request that on Form 5329.
Planning Ahead
Large RMDs can push you into a higher tax bracket and raise Medicare premiums. Common ways to manage them: Roth conversions in the low-income years between retirement and RMD age, and, from age 70½, qualified charitable distributions sent straight from an IRA to charity, which count toward your RMD without being taxed.
Questions people ask
Do Roth IRAs have RMDs?
Not for the original owner. Since 2024, Roth 401(k)s don't either. Beneficiaries who inherit a Roth may still have to empty it on a schedule.
I have several IRAs. Do I take an RMD from each?
You figure the RMD for each IRA, add them up, and can take the total from any one or more of them. 401(k)s are different: each plan's RMD must come out of that plan.
Can I take more than the minimum?
Yes, any time. Extra withdrawals don't count toward future years' RMDs, and everything you take from a traditional account is taxed as income.
Education only, not personalized financial, tax or investment advice. Results are estimates based on the numbers you enter; real returns vary and losses happen.