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RMD Calculator 2025

Find your required minimum distribution from an IRA or 401(k) using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table — see this year's RMD, your withdrawal rate, and a year-by-year projection.

Uniform Lifetime Table
Year-by-Year Projection
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How the RMD Calculator Works (Uniform Lifetime Table)

This calculator turns two numbers you already know — your retirement account balance and your age — into the single figure the IRS requires you to withdraw this year. It looks up your age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Publication 590-B, Appendix B) to find your distribution period, or "divisor," then divides your prior-year-end balance by that divisor. At age 73 the divisor is 26.5, so a $500,000 balance produces a required distribution of about $18,868. Each year the divisor shrinks, so the required percentage of your balance rises as you grow older.

Beyond this year's number, the tool projects your RMDs forward year by year. It grows your remaining balance by the expected return you enter, applies each future year's divisor, and charts how your required distributions and account balance evolve from now through your nineties. The CSV export gives you the full schedule to keep or share. Defaults reflect typical 2025 figures so the page is useful the moment it loads — just replace the numbers with your own.

Who Benefits Most From This Calculator

  • Retirees at or near age 73 who need to know exactly how much to withdraw to satisfy the IRS and avoid the penalty.
  • Pre-retirees planning ahead who want to see how large their future RMDs — and the taxable income they create — will become.
  • Anyone weighing Roth conversions who wants to quantify how a smaller traditional balance would shrink future required distributions.
  • Charitably inclined IRA owners exploring qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) to satisfy an RMD tax-free.
  • Adult children and caregivers helping a parent manage required withdrawals across multiple accounts.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

This tool uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, which applies to most account owners. If your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger than you, the IRS Joint Life and Last Survivor table applies instead and your divisor will be larger — this calculator will overstate your RMD in that case. Beneficiaries of inherited IRAs follow entirely different rules (such as the 10-year rule) that this calculator does not model. And if you hold only Roth IRAs, you have no lifetime RMDs at all, so you don't need this tool until you inherit or convert traditional money. For broader retirement planning, start with a retirement calculator and return here once you are approaching age 73.

Tax Implications of RMDs

RMDs from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s are taxed as ordinary income in the year you take them — the same as wages — and can push you into a higher bracket, increase the taxable portion of your Social Security, and raise your Medicare (IRMAA) premiums. Missing an RMD triggers an excise tax of 25% of the shortfall, reduced to 10% if you correct it promptly within the IRS's two-year window by withdrawing the missed amount and filing Form 5329. A powerful tax tool is the qualified charitable distribution (QCD): IRA owners 70½ or older can send up to roughly $108,000 (2025) directly to charity, satisfying the RMD while excluding that amount from taxable income. Because Roth accounts have no lifetime RMDs, many retirees do partial Roth conversions in lower-income years to shrink future required distributions. Consult a tax professional for your specific situation.

Tips, Tricks & Things to Watch

  • Aggregate your IRAs. You can total all your traditional IRA RMDs and take the combined amount from any one IRA — but 401(k)s must each satisfy their own RMD separately.
  • Roth has no RMDs during the owner's life. Roth IRAs (and, since 2024, Roth 401(k)s) require no lifetime distributions — consider conversions to reduce future RMDs.
  • Use the still-working exception. If you're still employed and don't own 5%+ of the company, you can often delay RMDs from that employer's 401(k) until you retire (IRAs are not eligible).
  • Give with a QCD. Sending part of your RMD straight to charity satisfies the requirement tax-free and keeps your AGI down.
  • Mind the first-year double-up. Delaying your first RMD to April 1 forces two distributions in one calendar year — often a tax mistake.
  • Automate it. Ask your custodian to schedule the distribution so you never risk the penalty.

RMD Formula (2025)

How the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table turns your balance and age into a required minimum distribution.

Divisor = UniformLifetimeTable[age]

Example:

Age 73

UniformLifetimeTable[73]
= 26.5

Variables:

age - Your age at the end of the distribution year
Divisor - Distribution period from IRS Pub 590-B (e.g. 26.5 at age 73)

RMD = Prior Year-End Balance ÷ Divisor

Example:

$500,000 balance at age 73

500000 ÷ 26.5
= $18,867.92

Variables:

Balance - Account value on December 31 of the prior year
RMD - Required minimum distribution for the year

Withdrawal Rate = RMD ÷ Balance × 100

Example:

$18,867.92 RMD on $500,000

18867.92 ÷ 500000 × 100
= 3.77%

Variables:

Withdrawal Rate - Required distribution as a % of balance

These formulas provide the mathematical foundation for the calculations. Actual results may vary based on rounding, compounding frequency, and specific lender policies.

How We Calculate & Keep This Accurate

Required minimum distributions are computed by dividing the prior-year-end account balance by the distribution period for your age from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Publication 590-B, Appendix B). The 2025 start age is 73 under the SECURE 2.0 Act; ages below 73 show a zero required distribution. The projection grows the remaining balance by your entered expected return each year and applies that year's divisor.

We use the Uniform Lifetime Table only — we do not model the Joint Life table (sole spousal beneficiary more than 10 years younger), inherited-account rules, or state taxes. Results are estimates for planning and may differ from your custodian's official figure.

Data & Freshness

Figures reflect 2025 tax-year data.

Last updated June 9, 2026 · Maintained by the Financial Calculator editorial team.

RMD Calculator — Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the most common questions about required minimum distributions, start ages, penalties, Roth accounts, and QCDs.

What is a required minimum distribution?

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a certain age. Because contributions to traditional IRAs and 401(k)s went in pre-tax and grew tax-deferred, the government eventually wants its share — RMDs ensure those balances don't grow tax-free forever. Each year you must withdraw at least the required amount, and that distribution is generally taxed as ordinary income. The amount is recalculated annually based on your prior-year-end account balance and a life-expectancy divisor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. As you age, the divisor shrinks, so the required percentage of your balance rises. RMDs apply per type of account, and missing one carries a steep penalty. The rule exists to convert decades of tax-deferred saving into taxable income during retirement. You can always take more than the minimum, but you cannot take less without facing a penalty, and you cannot skip a year or roll an RMD back into a retirement account.

At what age do RMDs start?

Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, RMDs now begin at age 73 for anyone who reaches age 72 after December 31, 2022. This is a change from the prior age of 72, and the age is scheduled to rise again to 75 in 2033. Your very first RMD has a special timing rule: you can delay it until April 1 of the year after you turn 73. However, if you use that delay, you must still take your second RMD by December 31 of that same year — meaning two taxable distributions land in one calendar year, which can push you into a higher tax bracket. For that reason, many retirees simply take the first RMD in the year they turn 73 rather than deferring. Every RMD after the first must be taken by December 31 of each year. This calculator uses age 73 as the start age and shows zero required distribution for any age below it, while still projecting what your future RMDs will look like once they begin.

How is my RMD calculated?

Your RMD is calculated with a simple division: take your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year and divide it by a distribution period (divisor) from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table that corresponds to your age. For example, the divisor at age 73 is 26.5, so a $500,000 balance produces an RMD of $500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92 for that year. Each subsequent year the divisor gets smaller — 25.5 at 74, 24.6 at 75, and so on — which means a larger percentage of your balance must be withdrawn as you age. The Uniform Lifetime Table is used by most account owners; a separate Joint Life table applies only if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger than you. Because the calculation resets every year with a new balance and a new divisor, your dollar RMD can rise or fall with market performance. This calculator does the division for you and projects the figure forward year by year using your expected return assumption.

What's the penalty for missing an RMD?

Failing to take your full RMD by the deadline triggers one of the harshest penalties in the tax code, but SECURE 2.0 reduced it considerably. The excise tax on the shortfall — the amount you should have withdrawn but didn't — is now 25%, down from the old 50%. Better still, if you correct the mistake promptly (generally by withdrawing the missed amount and filing Form 5329 within a two-year correction window), the penalty drops to just 10%. To request a waiver entirely, you can file Form 5329 with a letter explaining that the shortfall was due to reasonable error and that you have taken steps to remedy it; the IRS frequently grants these waivers for genuine mistakes. The penalty applies only to the amount not taken, not to your whole balance. Because the stakes are high, set calendar reminders, ask your custodian to automate the distribution, and double-check that you have satisfied the requirement across every account that has one. This calculator shows the exact required amount so you can avoid a shortfall in the first place.

Which accounts require RMDs?

RMDs apply to most tax-deferred retirement accounts. This includes traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and employer plans such as 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, as well as the federal Thrift Savings Plan. Inherited retirement accounts are also subject to RMD rules, though those follow a different and often more complex set of timelines (such as the 10-year rule for many non-spouse beneficiaries). The common thread is that these accounts were funded with pre-tax dollars and grew tax-deferred, so the IRS requires withdrawals to begin in retirement. One important nuance: while you must calculate an RMD separately for each account, you can aggregate the totals differently depending on account type. All your traditional IRA RMDs can be added together and taken from any one or combination of your IRAs. Employer plans like 401(k)s, however, generally must each satisfy their own RMD individually — you cannot take a 401(k)'s RMD from an IRA or from a different 401(k). Roth IRAs are the notable exception and have no RMDs during the owner's lifetime.

Do Roth accounts have RMDs?

Roth IRAs do not require any distributions during the original owner's lifetime — a major planning advantage. Because Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars and qualified withdrawals are tax-free, the IRS has no reason to force distributions, so you can leave a Roth IRA untouched to grow for as long as you live. This makes Roth IRAs powerful estate-planning and tax-management tools. Importantly, thanks to SECURE 2.0, designated Roth accounts inside employer plans — Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) balances — are also no longer subject to RMDs during the owner's lifetime beginning in 2024, eliminating a longstanding quirk that used to force such withdrawals. Beneficiaries who inherit Roth accounts, however, are still subject to distribution rules (commonly the 10-year rule), even though those withdrawals are generally tax-free. The absence of lifetime RMDs is one reason many retirees consider Roth conversions: by moving money from a traditional IRA to a Roth and paying tax now, they can shrink future RMDs and the taxable income those RMDs would otherwise generate. This calculator models traditional, RMD-subject accounts.

What is a QCD (qualified charitable distribution)?

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) lets IRA owners aged 70½ or older send money directly from their IRA to a qualified charity, and that transfer can count toward their RMD while being excluded from taxable income. This is one of the most tax-efficient ways to give. For example, if your RMD is $18,000 and you direct $10,000 of it to charity via a QCD, only the remaining $8,000 counts as taxable income, yet your full RMD obligation can still be satisfied. The annual QCD limit is indexed for inflation (around $108,000 per person for 2025) and the funds must go straight from your IRA custodian to the charity — you cannot take possession of the money first. Because the donated amount never appears in your adjusted gross income, a QCD can also help keep you under thresholds that affect Medicare premiums and the taxation of Social Security benefits, advantages a regular itemized charitable deduction does not provide. QCDs apply to IRAs, not 401(k)s, so some retirees roll 401(k) money into an IRA specifically to enable this strategy. Confirm the charity is eligible (donor-advised funds and private foundations generally do not qualify).

Can I take more than my RMD?

Yes — the RMD is a floor, not a ceiling. You are always free to withdraw more than the required minimum in any year, and many retirees do when they need additional income or want to manage their tax brackets strategically. However, taking more than your RMD in one year does not reduce or 'pre-fund' the following year's requirement; each year's RMD is calculated fresh from that year's prior-year-end balance and divisor, so a large withdrawal this year simply leaves a smaller balance to divide next year. Withdrawals above the RMD are taxed the same way — as ordinary income for traditional accounts. There can be smart reasons to exceed the minimum: filling up a lower tax bracket in an early-retirement, low-income year; reducing a large traditional balance before RMDs grow even larger; or doing partial Roth conversions. Conversely, if your goal is to preserve tax-deferred growth, you may prefer to take only the minimum. One thing you cannot do is take less than the RMD or roll the RMD amount back into a retirement account. This calculator shows the minimum so you can decide how much, if any, to take beyond it.
US RMD Calculator User Reviews

Disclaimer: Results are estimates for planning only and do not constitute tax, legal, lending, or investment advice. Actual paycheck and tax outcomes can vary based on employer settings, local rules, and personal elections. Consult a qualified US tax professional, CFP, or attorney before making financial decisions.