Before 59½, without the penalty. At a price: years of commitment.

The facts, in one place.

Six quotable sentences on 72(t) payments, from the notice.

1. Withdrawals from a retirement account before 59½ carry a 10 percent additional tax, with exceptions; one is a series of substantially equal periodic payments over your life expectancy (§ 72(t)(2)(A)(iv)).
2. Three methods are allowed: the required-minimum-distribution method (balance over life expectancy, recomputed each year), fixed amortization (a level payment over life expectancy at a chosen rate), and fixed annuitization (Notice 2022-6 § 3.01).
3. The rate may be anything up to the greater of 5% or 120 percent of the federal mid-term rate (§ 3.02(c)); the 5% floor means a higher payment is always available without checking the month's rate.
4. Example: $500,000 at age 50, on the Single Life Table (36.2 years) at 5%: about $30,156 a year by amortization, or $13,812 in the first year by the RMD method.
5. Once begun, the series must continue for the later of 5 years or reaching 59½; change it, and the 10 percent tax is owed on every payment back to the start, with interest (§ 72(t)(4)). At 50 that is 10 years of payments.
6. A one-time switch from either fixed method to the RMD method is allowed, which is the escape hatch when the account falls and the fixed payment is too high.

By starting age.

Both methods and the years the series must run, at four starting ages.

How the series works.

Money taken from a retirement account before 59½ carries a 10 percent additional tax on top of the income tax, with a list of exceptions. One of them is a series of substantially equal periodic payments: take a fixed amount every year, set by one of three formulas from your balance, your life expectancy, and an interest rate, and the additional tax does not apply. The price is commitment. The series must run for the later of five years or reaching 59½, and if it is changed before then, the 10 percent tax is owed on every payment from the beginning, with interest.

The notice allows any rate up to the greater of 5 percent or 120 percent of the federal mid-term rate, which is why this tool defaults to 5 percent: it is always allowed, so the tool needs no monthly update, and a higher rate is only ever an option. The amortization method gives a level payment; the required-minimum-distribution method gives a smaller one that follows the balance; a one-time switch from the first to the second is the safety valve if the account falls. Because the series is set per account, people commonly split off exactly the IRA that produces the income they want.

Methodology.

1. Inputs. The account balance, your age when payments begin (40 to 59), and the interest rate.
2. Life expectancy. The Single Life Table at your age (26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(b)), from the RMD record; the notice also permits the uniform and joint tables, which give smaller payments.
3. Amortization. The level payment that pays the balance down to zero over the life expectancy at the rate: balance times rate over one less (1 + rate) to the minus expectancy (Notice 2022-6 § 3.01(b)). Fixed at the start.
4. The RMD method. The balance over the life expectancy, recomputed each year from the new balance and the new expectancy (§ 3.01(a)); the tool shows the first three years at the stated growth.
5. The commitment. The later of five years or 59½ (§ 72(t)(4)); the payments must not be modified before then, apart from the one-time switch to the RMD method.
6. Validation. The table transcription at two ages; the amortization formula pinned by hand at 50 and 5 percent; the RMD method; the years required at 50 and at 57; and that amortization exceeds the RMD method at a positive rate. A transcription error fails the build.
7. Not modeled. The annuitization method and its mortality table, the joint-life tables, monthly or quarterly payment frequency, the income tax on the payments, the mid-term rate itself, and what happens if the account is exhausted. Educational, not advice.

Sources.

1. 1. Internal Revenue Service, Notice 2022-6 — Determination of substantially equal periodic payments. The three methods (required minimum distribution, fixed amortization, fixed annuitization) in § 3.01; the life expectancy tables that may be used, including the Single Life Table, in § 3.02(a); the interest rate ceiling of the greater of 5 percent or 120 percent of the federal mid-term rate in § 3.02(c); that the RMD method recalculates each year while the other two are fixed; and the one-time switch to the RMD method. Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
2. 2. United States Code (Cornell LII), 26 U.S.C. § 72(t)(2)(A)(iv) and (t)(4) — Substantially equal periodic payments; the recapture on modification. The exception from the 10 percent additional tax for a series of substantially equal periodic payments over life expectancy, and the recapture of the tax with interest if the series is modified before the later of five years or age 59½. Retrieved September 6, 2026; verified September 6, 2026.
3. 3. Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII), 26 CFR § 1.401(a)(9)-9 — Life expectancy and distribution period tables. The Uniform Lifetime Table in paragraph (c), every age from 72 to 120 and over, in effect for distribution calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Also the Single Life Table (paragraph (b)) for ages 40 through 70, used by the 72(t) tool. Retrieved September 4, 2026; verified September 4, 2026.

Revision history.

The record's history; the table comes from the RMD record.

September 6, 2026

First release: the amortization and required-minimum-distribution methods on the Single Life Table, the 5 percent rate floor that needs no monthly update, and the years the series must run.

Canonical address: https://consideratecapital.com/tools/72t-payments-calculator