Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Calculator

What Is the RMD Calculator?

This tool calculates your Required Minimum Distribution as prior year-end account balance ÷ IRS Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for your age -- the standard IRS method (Publication 590-B, Table III), which applies to most account owners. RMDs generally start at age 73 (rising to 75 for those born 1960 or later). A different divisor table applies only if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger than you -- that case isn't modeled here.

How to Use This Tool

Enter your account balance as of December 31 last year and your age this year. Your required minimum distribution appears instantly, along with the divisor used.

Reading the Result

The tool divides your balance by the divisor for the age you enter. The divisor tells you what fraction of the balance you must take that year: at a divisor of 25, for instance, about 4 percent. As you age the divisor shrinks, so the required percentage rises gradually. The page shows the divisor next to the result so you can check the arithmetic yourself. If you enter an age below 73, the tool shows that no distribution is required at that age under its rule rather than inventing a figure; for people born in 1960 or later the starting age can be higher, so this page's lower cut-off is conservative and you should confirm your own start age.

Worked Example With Hypothetical Numbers

Suppose your traditional IRA was worth 400,000 on December 31 last year and you are 75 this year. The table gives a divisor of 24.6 for that age, so the distribution is about 16,260. If your balance were 250,000 instead, the result would be about 10,163. Next year you would use the new year-end balance and the divisor for age 76, which is smaller, so even a flat balance leads to a slightly higher required amount.

Details That Affect the Real Requirement

• Use the right balance: the calculation uses the balance from December 31 of the previous year, not today's value.
• Multiple accounts: each account has its own calculation. Traditional IRAs can generally be aggregated, so the total can be withdrawn from any one or a combination of them, while employer plans like 401(k)s have separate rules. Check how your accounts are treated.
• Timing: the first distribution can generally be delayed until April 1 of the following year, but doing so means two distributions in that year, which may raise your taxable income. Confirm deadlines with the IRS.
• Inherited accounts follow different rules and are not modeled here.

Taxes and Planning

Distributions from pre-tax accounts are generally taxable as ordinary income, so an RMD can influence your tax bracket, and it may affect things that depend on income, such as certain Medicare premiums. Some people arrange charitable giving directly from an IRA in a way that can count toward the requirement, but eligibility and limits are specific, so ask a tax professional. Failing to take the full required amount can result in a penalty on the shortfall, which is one reason to run the numbers each year and to confirm your account custodian's own calculation.

Common Mistakes

• Using the current balance rather than the prior year-end balance.
• Applying this to a Roth IRA, which generally has no RMD during the owner's lifetime.
• Treating the result as the amount you must take from every account when aggregation may apply.
• Using the table when a spouse more than ten years younger is the sole beneficiary.

Frequently Asked Questions