# RMD calculator (required minimum distribution)

> Calculate your required minimum distribution from the IRS Uniform Lifetime or joint table, your RMD starting age (73 or 75), and future RMDs.

Interactive version: https://www.calcopenly.com/finance/rmd-calculator
Subject: Finance calculators

A required minimum distribution is last year's December 31 account balance divided by the distribution period for your age this year. The period comes from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, or from the Joint and Last Survivor Table when your spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, which gives a longer period and a smaller RMD. Both are the tables in 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9 that apply from 2022, reprinted in IRS Publication 590-B.

With the defaults, a 75-year-old with $500,000 on December 31, 2025 divides by 24.6 and must withdraw $20,325.20 in 2026, 4.07% of the balance. At a 5% return the projection then shows each year's RMD to age 100.

Under SECURE 2.0, RMDs start at 73 for people born 1951 to 1959 and at 75 for those born 1960 or later. Roth IRAs need no RMDs while the owner is alive.

## Inputs

- **Distribution year**
- **Your age on your birthday this year**
- **Account balance on December 31 last year**
- **Younger spouse is sole beneficiary**: Your spouse is the only beneficiary all year and more than 10 years younger, so the joint table applies
- **Spouse's age on their birthday this year**
- **Expected return (per year)**: Used only to project future balances and RMDs
- **Project until age**
- **RMD withdrawn at** (options: End of year, Start of year)

## Results

- Required minimum distribution — main result
- Distribution period
- Share of the balance
- IRS table used
- Deadline
- RMD starting age
- First RMD year
- Total of projected RMDs

## Formula

$$
\text{RMD}_y = \frac{B_{y-1}}{d(\text{age}_y)},\qquad B_y = B_{y-1}(1+r) - \text{RMD}_y
$$

## Worked examples

### Publication 590-B: age 75, $100,000, spouse 6 years younger

- Distribution year: 2026
- Your age on your birthday this year: 75 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 100,000
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: no
- Expected return (per year): 5%
- **Required minimum distribution: 4,065.00**
- **Distribution period: 24.6**
- **IRS table used: Uniform Lifetime (Table III)**
- Checked against: IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Table III example: $100,000 ÷ 24.6 = $4,065

### Publication 590-B: age 75, spouse 64 and sole beneficiary

- Distribution year: 2026
- Your age on your birthday this year: 75 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 100,000
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: yes
- Spouse's age on their birthday this year: 64 years
- Expected return (per year): 5%
- **Required minimum distribution: 3,953.00**
- **Distribution period: 25.3**
- **IRS table used: Joint and Last Survivor (Table II)**
- Checked against: IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Table II example: $100,000 ÷ 25.3 = $3,953

### Publication 590-B Justin example: 73 in 2025, $38,400

- Distribution year: 2025
- Your age on your birthday this year: 73 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 38,400
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: no
- Expected return (per year): 5%
- **Required minimum distribution: 1,449.06**
- **Distribution period: 26.5**
- **Deadline: April 1, 2026 (first RMD)**
- Checked against: IRS Publication 590-B (2025): $38,400 ÷ 26.5 (the IRS rounds it to $1,450); first-year deadline April 1 of the next year

### Age 120: the last row of the table

- Distribution year: 2026
- Your age on your birthday this year: 120 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 10,000
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: no
- Expected return (per year): 5%
- Project until age: 120 years
- **Required minimum distribution: 5,000.00**
- **Distribution period: 2.0**
- **Total of projected RMDs: 5,000.00**
- Checked against: 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(c): distribution period 2.0 at 120 and over

### Born 1956: no RMD until 73 in 2029

- Distribution year: 2026
- Your age on your birthday this year: 70 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 400,000
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: no
- Expected return (per year): 6%
- Project until age: 80 years
- **Required minimum distribution: 0.00**
- **First RMD year: 2029**
- **RMD starting age: 73 (born 1951 to 1959)**
- **Distribution period: not applicable**
- **Total of projected RMDs: 176,882.37**
- Checked against: 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2(b)(2)(iv); projection by Python decimal with the regulation's tables

### Born 1960: RMDs start at 75

- Distribution year: 2026
- Your age on your birthday this year: 66 years
- Account balance on December 31 last year: 400,000
- Younger spouse is sole beneficiary: no
- Expected return (per year): 6%
- Project until age: 80 years
- **First RMD year: 2035**
- **RMD starting age: 75 (born 1960 or later)**
- **Total of projected RMDs: 190,048.54**
- Checked against: 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2(b)(2)(vi); projection by Python decimal

## Questions

### How is an RMD calculated?

Divide the account balance on December 31 of last year by the distribution period for the age you reach this year. IRS Publication 590-B's example: a $100,000 IRA balance at the end of 2025 and age 75 in 2026 gives a period of 24.6 from the Uniform Lifetime Table, so the 2026 RMD is $100,000 ÷ 24.6 = $4,065.

### At what age do RMDs start?

73 if you were born from 1951 to 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, under SECURE 2.0 as written into 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2. The first RMD can wait until April 1 of the following year, but then two RMDs fall in that year. In a 401(k) you may be able to delay until you retire if you still work for the employer.

### When do I use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table?

Only when your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account for the whole year and is more than 10 years younger than you. Publication 590-B's example: at 75 with a 64-year-old spouse the period is 25.3 instead of 24.6, so the RMD on $100,000 falls from $4,065 to $3,953. Everyone else uses the Uniform Lifetime Table.

### What is the penalty for missing an RMD?

An excise tax of 25% of the amount you should have withdrawn and did not, cut to 10% if you take the shortfall within two years, according to the IRS. Missing a $20,000 RMD therefore costs $5,000, or $2,000 when corrected in time. You cannot count extra withdrawals from one year toward the next year's RMD.

### Do RMDs apply to Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s?

Not while the owner is alive. The IRS states that no withdrawals are required from Roth IRAs, or from designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b), during the owner's lifetime. Beneficiaries who inherit a Roth account do have to take distributions under the rules for inherited accounts.

### How accurate is the RMD calculator?

Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 8 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “Publication 590-B: age 75, $100,000, spouse 6 years younger” is checked against IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Table III example: $100,000 ÷ 24.6 = $4,065.

### Where does the method come from?

26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9: Uniform Lifetime and Joint and Last Survivor tables (from 2022); 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2(b)(2): applicable age by date of birth; IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Appendix B tables II and III and worked examples; IRS: Retirement topics — Required minimum distributions; Proposed rule 2024-14543 (Federal Register, 19 July 2024): applicable age 73 for people born in 1959.

## Sources

- [26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9: Uniform Lifetime and Joint and Last Survivor tables (from 2022)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-9)
- [26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2(b)(2): applicable age by date of birth](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-2)
- [IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Appendix B tables II and III and worked examples](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b)
- [IRS: Retirement topics — Required minimum distributions](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-required-minimum-distributions-rmds)
- [Proposed rule 2024-14543 (Federal Register, 19 July 2024): applicable age 73 for people born in 1959](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/19/2024-14543/required-minimum-distributions)

_Note: financial information, not professional advice._