RMD Calculator

The RMD Calculator works out your required minimum distribution, the smallest amount US tax law forces you to withdraw each year from a traditional IRA or employer retirement plan once you reach the starting age. Enter your age and account balance, and it applies the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table to give your RMD, the percentage of the balance it represents, and the excise tax you would face if you missed it.

How It Works

1. Enter your age. The calculator accepts ages 72 to 120 and uses your age for the distribution year to look up the IRS factor.
2. Enter your account balance. For a real RMD, this is the balance on December 31 of the previous year, not today's balance, because that is the figure the IRS formula uses.
3. The calculator finds your distribution period in the Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III of IRS Publication 590-B). The factor shrinks with age, from 27.4 at age 72 down to 2.0 at age 120.
4. It divides the balance by the factor to produce the RMD, expresses it as a percentage of the balance, and calculates the penalty exposure: 25 percent of the RMD if the distribution is missed, reduced to 10 percent if the shortfall is corrected in time.

Formula

$\text{RMD} = \frac{\text{Prior year-end account balance}}{\text{Distribution period for your age}}$

$\text{RMD as a share of balance} = \frac{1}{\text{Distribution period}} \times 100\%$

$\text{Excise tax if missed} = \text{RMD} \times 25\%$

The 25 percent excise tax is the post-SECURE 2.0 penalty, down from 50 percent under older law, and it falls to 10 percent when the missed amount is withdrawn and corrected within the IRS correction window.

Input Parameters

| Parameter | Unit | Realistic range | | --- | --- | --- | | Age | years | 72 to 120 | | Account balance | USD | 10,000 to 5,000,000 |

Ages below 72 are rejected. If you enter 72, the calculator still computes a figure but warns that the standard RMD start age is now 73, or 75 for people born in 1960 or later, so an age-72 result only applies under older rules or special exceptions.

Worked Example

A retiree is 75 years old and had USD 500,000 in a traditional IRA on December 31 of last year.

1. Look up the factor: at age 75, the Uniform Lifetime Table distribution period is 24.6.
2. Divide: 500,000 / 24.6 = USD 20,325.20. That is this year's required minimum distribution.
3. As a percentage: 1 / 24.6 = 4.07 percent of the balance.
4. Penalty exposure: if none of it were withdrawn, the excise tax would be 20,325.20 x 25 percent = USD 5,081.30. Corrected promptly, it drops to 20,325.20 x 10 percent = USD 2,032.52, on top of the tax still owed on the withdrawal itself.

For scale, the percentage climbs steadily with age: at 85 the factor is 16.0, so the same balance would require 6.25 percent, and at 90 the factor of 12.2 pushes the required share above 8 percent.

Interpreting the Result

The RMD is a floor, not a target. You may always withdraw more; the law only penalizes withdrawing less. Many retirees take exactly the RMD when they do not need the income, because every dollar withdrawn from a traditional account is taxable income in that year, and larger withdrawals can push you into a higher bracket or increase Medicare premiums through income-related adjustments.

The percentage figure is the one to plan around. Because the factor falls every year while the balance may also be shrinking, the required share of what remains rises sharply in your eighties and nineties. A spending plan that works at 73, when the required share is under 4 percent, needs revisiting at 88, when it approaches 7.3 percent.

Choosing the Right Tool

• Use this RMD Calculator when you need this year's required withdrawal from a US traditional IRA or 401(k)-style plan, based on your age and prior year-end balance.
• Use the 401(k) Calculator when you are still saving and want to project contributions, employer matching, and growth up to retirement rather than withdrawals from it.
• Use the Superannuation Calculator if your retirement savings are in the Australian super system, which follows ATO rules and has no RMD of this kind during the accumulation phase.

Limitations

The calculator applies the Uniform Lifetime Table only. Different tables and rules govern important cases it does not model: the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table when a spouse beneficiary is more than ten years younger, the Single Life Table used for inherited IRAs, and separate rules for inherited accounts under the SECURE Act 10-year rule. It covers traditional pre-tax accounts; Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs for the owner, and Roth 401(k) accounts have been exempt from RMDs since 2024. It does not calculate the income tax owed on the distribution, qualified charitable distributions, still-working exceptions for employer plans, or state tax. Confirm balances, deadlines, and your specific situation against current IRS guidance or a tax professional before withdrawing.

Questions

When must I take my first RMD?

Under current law, RMDs begin at age 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, following the SECURE 2.0 changes. The first distribution can be delayed until April 1 of the following year, but doing so means two taxable distributions in that second year, so most people take the first one on time.

Which balance do I enter, today's or last year's?

Last year's. The IRS formula divides the account balance on December 31 of the prior year by the factor for your age in the distribution year. Market gains and losses during the current year do not change this year's RMD.

What happens if I miss part of my RMD?

The shortfall is subject to a 25 percent excise tax, reduced to 10 percent if you withdraw the missed amount and correct the error within the IRS correction window. You still owe ordinary income tax on the amount when you take it, and you can ask the IRS to waive the penalty for reasonable error using Form 5329.

Sources and Methodology

Distribution periods come from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, Table III of Publication 590-B, as updated by the IRS life expectancy regulations effective from 2022. Starting ages reflect the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act changes, and the 25 percent and 10 percent excise tax figures are the penalty rates set by SECURE 2.0 for missed distributions and timely corrections. The computation is a direct division of the entered balance by the table factor for the entered age, with no growth, tax, or market assumptions added.