RMD Calculator
What is my required minimum distribution this year, and when does the first one land? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 6, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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The prior December 31 balance, the birth year, and an assumed return in; this year's required distribution, the first year it lands, and the next ten years out. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- Once you reach 73 (or 75, for people born in 1960 or later) the government requires you to take money out of pre-tax retirement accounts every year and pay tax on it. The amount is your balance at the end of last year divided by a factor from a life-expectancy table. This tool computes this year's required amount and shows how it grows over the next ten years at a return you choose.
- Why it matters.
- Required withdrawals are often larger than people expect, and they arrive whether or not the money is needed. Seeing the size of them ten years out is what makes earlier planning, such as Roth conversions, worth considering.
- An example.
- A $500,000 balance at age 73 requires a withdrawal of about $18,900 this year. At a five percent return the required amount is larger every year after that.
- Where it stops.
- It covers your own account, not one you inherited, which has different rules and its own tool. The projection depends entirely on the return you assume.
The facts
Six quotable sentences from the regulations and the statute.
The button shows exactly what your reader sees when they click the link. Paste the link where a link goes; it opens this list in a small window, always current as of the record, with the attribution and a link to the full page. Nothing to copy out, nothing to update later.
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- Required minimum distributions begin at 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959 and at 75 for people born in 1960 or later (SECURE 2.0). Those born in 1950 or earlier are already taking them.
- The first distribution may be delayed until April 1 of the year after the applicable age is reached. Every later one is due December 31, so delaying the first puts two distributions in one tax year.
- The amount is the account balance on the prior December 31 divided by the Uniform Lifetime Table's period for the age reached that year: 26.5 at 73, 24.6 at 75, 20.2 at 80, 12.2 at 90.
- On a $500,000 balance the first distribution at 73 is $18,868, 3.8% of the account. The required share rises every year: 5.0% at 80, 8.2% at 90, 15.6% at 100.
- A distribution that is missed or short carries a 25 percent excise tax on the shortfall, reduced to 10 percent if it is corrected within two years.
- Roth IRAs have no lifetime required distributions for the owner. The Uniform Lifetime Table applies to an owner's own account when the spouse is the sole beneficiary and not more than ten years younger, or when there is no such spouse; inherited accounts follow different rules.
The Uniform Lifetime Table
The table itself, 72 to 100, with each divisor turned into the percentage of the account it requires.
The button shows exactly what your reader sees when they click the link. Paste the link where a link goes; it opens this table in a small window, always current as of the record, with the attribution and a link to the full page. Nothing to copy out, nothing to update later.
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| Age reached in the year | Distribution period | Share of the balance |
|---|---|---|
| 72 | 27.4 | 3.65% |
| 73 | 26.5 | 3.77% |
| 74 | 25.5 | 3.92% |
| 75 | 24.6 | 4.07% |
| 76 | 23.7 | 4.22% |
| 77 | 22.9 | 4.37% |
| 78 | 22 | 4.55% |
| 79 | 21.1 | 4.74% |
| 80 | 20.2 | 4.95% |
| 81 | 19.4 | 5.15% |
| 82 | 18.5 | 5.41% |
| 83 | 17.7 | 5.65% |
| 84 | 16.8 | 5.95% |
| 85 | 16 | 6.25% |
| 86 | 15.2 | 6.58% |
| 87 | 14.4 | 6.94% |
| 88 | 13.7 | 7.30% |
| 89 | 12.9 | 7.75% |
| 90 | 12.2 | 8.20% |
| 91 | 11.5 | 8.70% |
| 92 | 10.8 | 9.26% |
| 93 | 10.1 | 9.90% |
| 94 | 9.5 | 10.53% |
| 95 | 8.9 | 11.24% |
| 96 | 8.4 | 11.90% |
| 97 | 7.8 | 12.82% |
| 98 | 7.3 | 13.70% |
| 99 | 6.8 | 14.71% |
| 100 | 6.4 | 15.63% |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "RMD Calculator," reviewed September 6, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#facts
- The Uniform Lifetime Table https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#key-numbers
- How the rules work https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/rmd-calculator#revision-history
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