RMD Calculator
With balance on 31 december last year 500000 usd, age this year 75, your income tax rate 22 percent, rmd comes to $20,325 — required minimum distribution. It is reached in 7 steps, the last of which is 500000 / 24.6, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9, not an approximation fitted to it.
The required minimum distribution from a traditional IRA or 401(k), using the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table denominator for your age.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Balance on 31 December last year 500000, Age this year 75, Your income tax rate 22
$20,325
Required minimum distribution for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Applicable denominator
24.6- Required minimum distribution
500000 / 24.6$20,325- Share of the balance it takes
100 / 24.64.065 %- If you spread it monthly
20325.203 / 12$1,694- Income tax on it, at your rate
20325.203 * 22 / 100$4,472- What lands in your bank
20325.203 - 4471.5447$15,854- Excise tax if you skip it
20325.203 * 0.25$5,081
Ask about this in the chatRMD Table by Age — IRS Uniform Lifetime Table
Worked example
A $500,000 IRA at age 75 divides by 24.6, the denominator on that row of the Uniform Lifetime Table, for a required distribution of $20,325 — 4.07% of the account. At a 22% rate the tax on it is $4,472 and $15,854 reaches your bank. Skipping it would cost $5,081 in excise tax.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Take the balance from the 31 December statement of the year before. Nothing that happens to the account during the distribution year changes the number you owe.
- 2.Divide by the denominator the IRS publishes for your age. That is the whole calculation — the table is the law, set in 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9, and it is the same table for everyone whose spouse is not more than ten years younger.
- 3.Take it by 31 December. The one exception is your first RMD, which can wait until 1 April of the following year — at the cost of two taxable distributions landing in the same year.
RMD on a $500,000 balance, by age
| Age this year | Required minimum distribution | Applicable denominator | Share of the balance it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | $18,868 | 26.5 | 3.77 % |
| 75 | $20,325 | 24.6 | 4.07 % |
| 80 | $24,752 | 20.2 | 4.95 % |
| 85 | $31,250 | 16 | 6.25 % |
| 90 | $40,984 | 12.2 | 8.2 % |
| 95 | $56,180 | 8.9 | 11.24 % |
| 100 | $78,125 | 6.4 | 15.63 % |
The denominator falls every year, so the share of the account you must take rises whatever the market does.
The formula
- Applicable denominator
- Required minimum distribution
500000 / 24.6 - Share of the balance it takes
100 / 24.6 - If you spread it monthly
20325.203 / 12 - Income tax on it, at your rate
20325.203 * 22 / 100 - What lands in your bank
20325.203 - 4471.5447 - Excise tax if you skip it
20325.203 * 0.25
Source: 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9 — Uniform Lifetime Table, IRS — Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, IRS Publication 590-B — Distributions from IRAs
Questions people actually ask
- At what age do RMDs start?
- 73, under SECURE 2.0. The first one is due by 1 April of the year after you turn 73 and every later one by 31 December, so waiting on the first means taking two in one tax year. The starting age rises to 75 in 2033.
- What happens if I miss an RMD?
- The shortfall carries a 25% excise tax, cut to 10% if you take the missed amount and file Form 5329 inside a two-year correction window. Before SECURE 2.0 it was 50%. The IRS will also waive it for reasonable cause if you correct it and attach an explanation.
- Do Roth accounts have RMDs?
- A Roth IRA has none during the owner’s lifetime, and designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) stopped having them in 2024. Inherited Roth accounts are a different rule and generally do have to be emptied.
- I have several accounts — one RMD or one each?
- Work out the RMD for each traditional IRA separately, then take the total from any one or any combination of them. 401(k) and 403(b) accounts do not aggregate: each plan must pay its own. 403(b)s aggregate with each other but not with IRAs.
- Can I avoid the tax on it?
- A qualified charitable distribution sends up to an inflation-indexed limit straight from an IRA to a charity from age 70½. It counts toward the RMD and never appears in your income, which beats taking the distribution and deducting the gift.
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Part of a job
- Planning retirement — 9 pages, in the order the questions arrive
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