RMD Calculator

How the RMD calculation works

A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS forces you to withdraw each year from tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach the RMD age. The formula is simple: divide your account balance on December 31 of the previous year by the life-expectancy factor for your age from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. This calculator uses the current table, updated by the IRS for 2022, which reflects longer life expectancies and therefore slightly smaller annual distributions than the old table. The result is the minimum you must take; you can always withdraw more, but you cannot withdraw less without penalty.

The starting age changed with the SECURE 2.0 Act: it is 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Miss the deadline, which is generally December 31 each year (April 1 of the following year only for your very first RMD), and the penalty is 25% of the amount you failed to withdraw, dropping to 10% if you correct it promptly. Roth IRAs are exempt from RMDs during your lifetime, which is one reason retirees sometimes convert traditional balances to Roth before RMD age, paying tax now to shrink the balances that drive future RMDs.

Practical tips for RMD planning

First, calculate each account separately but you may generally withdraw the total from any combination of your traditional IRAs. Second, 401(k) RMDs must come out of each 401(k) individually, so still-employed exceptions aside, plan per account. Third, qualified charitable distributions let you send up to $108,000 per year directly from an IRA to charity, satisfying the RMD without adding to taxable income. Finally, remember RMDs are taxed as ordinary income, so coordinate them with Social Security timing and Roth conversions to avoid an unnecessarily high bracket.