RMD Calculator 2026

How the RMD calculation works

The IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount from certain retirement accounts starting at a specific age. The formula is straightforward: take your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year and divide it by a distribution period from the Uniform Lifetime Table. The table assigns a distribution period based on your age. At 73, that period is 26.5 years. At 80, it's 20.2 years.

Your mandatory withdrawal percentage starts around 3.8% at age 73 and grows every year. By 80, you're required to pull out about 5% of the prior year-end balance. By 85, nearly 6.3%. By 90, it's above 8%. The accounts deplete faster than most people model.

The table changed in 2022. The IRS updated the Uniform Lifetime Table effective January 1, 2022, reflecting improved mortality data. The updated table generally produces slightly lower RMDs than the pre-2022 version because people are living longer on average. Any RMD figures you see from calculators built before 2022 are overstated. This calculator uses the 2022+ table.

The Uniform Lifetime Table: key ages

The prior year-end balance rule

Your RMD for any given year is based on the account balance on December 31 of the prior year, not today's balance. If the market dropped 30% between January 1 and March 1, your RMD was already fixed at the prior year-end value. You still have to take it. This creates the most common RMD problem: people who don't set aside enough cash from their account to cover the required distribution in a down year.

For multiple accounts: calculate each account's RMD separately. For IRAs (including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs), you can aggregate and take the combined total from any one account or any combination. For 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, each plan's RMD must come from that specific plan. You can't use your IRA to satisfy a 401(k) RMD.

The first-year exception matters. Your very first RMD can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you turn your RMD age. But if you do that, you'll take two RMDs in the second year: one for the prior year (by April 1) and one for the current year (by December 31). Two distributions in one year means two chunks of taxable income. Most people take the first RMD in the year they turn 73 to avoid that double hit.

SECURE 2.0: what changed and when

The SECURE 2.0 Act signed in December 2022 made four changes that matter for RMD planning. RMD age moved from 72 to 73 for people born between 1951 and 1959. It moves again to 75 for people born in 1960 or later. The penalty for missing an RMD dropped from 50% to 25%, and drops further to 10% if you correct it within the two-year corrective period. Roth 401(k) accounts became exempt from lifetime RMDs starting in 2024, matching how Roth IRAs have always worked.

If you turned 72 in 2022 or earlier, your RMD age was already 72 and that didn't change. The new ages apply prospectively.

Qualified Charitable Distributions: the most underused RMD strategy

A QCD lets you transfer up to $111,000 directly from your IRA to a qualifying charity in 2026. The amount counts toward your RMD but is excluded from your taxable income entirely. It never appears in your AGI, which means it doesn't push more of your Social Security into taxable territory, doesn't trigger Medicare IRMAA surcharges, and doesn't knock you into a higher bracket.

For a retiree in the 22% bracket who planned to donate $10,000 to charity anyway, a QCD saves roughly $2,200 in federal taxes compared to taking the RMD as cash and then writing a check. The itemized deduction route only helps if you exceed the standard deduction ($18,150 for single filers age 65+ in 2026), and most retirees don't. The QCD is available from IRAs only, not from 401(k) plans.

One strict requirement: the distribution must go directly from the IRA custodian to the charity. You can't withdraw the money yourself, deposit it, and then write a personal check. The check must be payable to the charity.

Roth conversions in the gap years

Every dollar converted to a Roth IRA before age 73 is a dollar that won't generate a future RMD. If you retire at 62 with a $1.2 million traditional IRA and don't touch it, your first RMD at 73 will be roughly $45,000. Add that to Social Security and pension income and you may land in the 22% or 24% bracket for years.

Converting in the years between retirement and 73, when income may be low, lets you pay tax at today's rate and permanently reduce the size of future RMDs. A $200,000 Roth conversion in a year when you're in the 12% bracket pays $24,000 in federal tax and eliminates roughly $7,500 in annual RMDs from age 73 onward, plus all future growth in that converted amount comes out tax-free.

The math on conversions depends on your current bracket, expected future income, state tax rate, and whether your heirs are in a higher or lower bracket than you. This is the calculation where a fee-only advisor pays for themselves.

What to do if you missed an RMD

Take the missed distribution as soon as you realize the error. File Form 5329 with your tax return, report the missed amount, and request a penalty waiver with an explanation. The IRS has consistently granted waivers for first-time mistakes, particularly during the years when the SECURE Act transitions created confusion about RMD ages.

The corrective period under SECURE 2.0 gives you until the end of the second tax year following the missed year to take the distribution at the reduced 10% penalty. Miss your 2026 RMD, take it in 2027 or 2028, and the penalty is 10%. Wait longer and it's 25%.

Inherited IRA RMDs under the 10-year rule

If you inherited an IRA from someone who died in 2020 or later and you're not an eligible designated beneficiary (spouse, minor child, disabled person, or someone less than 10 years younger than the deceased), the SECURE Act's 10-year rule applies. The entire account must be emptied by December 31 of the tenth year after the owner's death. There are no required annual distributions in years 1-9 if the original owner had not yet started RMDs.

If the original owner had already started RMDs, you must continue taking annual distributions based on your own life expectancy in years 1-9 and then clear the remaining balance in year 10. The interaction between your own RMDs and inherited IRA distributions can create significant taxable income. A dedicated inherited IRA calculator helps model the annual required amounts.