RMD Calculator

It depends on when you were born. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the applicable age is: age 73 if born before 1951, age 73 if born 1951–1959, and age 75 if born in 1960 or later. Your very first distribution may be deferred to 1 April of the following year, but if you use that extension you will take two distributions in the same tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket.

The balance on 31 December of the year BEFORE the distribution year, not the balance today and not the balance when you withdraw. That single date fixes the amount for the whole year, so a market fall after 31 December does not reduce what you must take out, and a rally does not increase it.

Divide that prior year-end balance by a number from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, which is set by your age at the end of the distribution year. At 73 the divisor is 26.5, so the distribution is about 3.77% of the balance. The divisor shrinks every year, so the required percentage climbs: about 4.95% at 80, 6.25% at 85 and 8.20% at 90.

The amount you failed to withdraw may be subject to an excise tax of 25%, reduced to 10% if the shortfall is corrected within two years. It is a tax on the amount not taken, not on your whole account, and it is in addition to the ordinary income tax you still owe on the distribution once you do take it.

Not during the original owner’s lifetime. That is one of the clearest practical advantages of a Roth: the money can stay invested for as long as you like. Inherited accounts are a different matter, and beneficiaries of both Roth and traditional IRAs do face distribution requirements.

You must work out the required amount for each traditional IRA separately, but you may then take the total from any one of them or split it however you like. That aggregation rule applies to IRAs. Employer plans such as 401(k)s generally do not aggregate, and each plan usually needs its own distribution.

In two common situations. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and is more than ten years younger, a different IRS table gives you a larger divisor and therefore a smaller required distribution — the calculator detects this and tells you, but does not compute it. And if you inherited the account, beneficiaries use the Single Life table instead, under rules that changed substantially for most non-spouse beneficiaries.

Yes. The RMD is a floor, never a ceiling, and taking more in one year does not reduce what is required in the next — each year stands on its own. A qualified charitable distribution paid straight from the IRA to a charity can also count toward the requirement while staying out of your taxable income, which is worth investigating if you give anyway.