The required minimum distribution has a reputation for being complicated, and the arithmetic does not deserve it. It is one division. Take an account's balance on December 31 of last year and divide it by a number the IRS publishes for your age. That is the minimum you must withdraw this year.
A $500,000 IRA owner who turns 75 this year divides by 24.6. The minimum is $20,325.
The complications are all around the division rather than in it. Which year you start. Which December 31 balance counts. Which table supplies the divisor. Which accounts may be combined and which must each pay their own. What happens in the first year, which has a deadline unlike every later year. And what a mistake costs, which is now a quarter of whatever you failed to take.
This article walks through each of those in the order you meet them, with the figures worked by the same engine that runs this site's RMD calculator.
A note before you start. This is general education, not tax advice. Life-expectancy factors are from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table in Publication 590-B, Appendix B, and the starting ages are those set by SECURE 2.0. Every dollar figure here comes from this site's RMD engine, which applies the Uniform Lifetime Table to a single account. It does not compute the Joint Life table used when a spouse more than ten years younger is the sole beneficiary, and it does not cover inherited accounts, which follow different rules. Where either applies, the figures here are an upper bound rather than your number.
1. The whole formula in one line
This year's RMD = the account's balance on December 31 of last year ÷ the life-expectancy factor for the age you reach this year
Three things about that line matter more than they look.
It is last year's balance, not today's. The account could have risen or fallen 20% since January and it would not change this year's minimum. The number is fixed on January 1 and stays fixed.
It is the age you reach this year, not the age you are today. Someone who turns 75 in December uses the age-75 factor for the whole year, including the months when they are still 74.
It is per account. Every IRA, every 401(k), every 403(b) has its own RMD computed on its own balance. What you are allowed to do with those separate figures is where the rules diverge, and section 6 covers it.
The factor shrinks every year, so the share of the account you must take rises every year: 3.77% at 73, 4.07% at 75, 4.95% at 80, 6.25% at 85, 8.2% at 90. The companion article on RMD amounts tabulates what that means in dollars at every common balance.
2. Step one: when yours begin
SECURE 2.0 raised the starting age twice and tied it to birth year. This site's engine encodes the rule directly:
| Born | RMDs begin at | First RMD year for the latest birthday in the range |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 or earlier | 72 (or 70½ if born before July 1, 1949) | Already begun |
| 1951 to 1959 | 73 | 2032, for someone born in 1959 |
| 1960 or later | 75 | 2035, for someone born in 1960 |
Anyone born in 1960 or later is not required to take anything until 75. That is two more years than the 1951 to 1959 cohort and three more than the cohort before them, and those years are valuable. They are the window in which a pre-tax balance can be drawn down or converted to Roth on your own schedule, before the government's schedule starts.
The age is reached during the calendar year, not on a birthday. Someone born in 1953 is 73 at some point in 2026, so 2026 is their first RMD year regardless of whether the birthday falls in January or December.
Before your first RMD year, there is nothing to calculate. The engine returns zero and the years remaining. If that is you, the planning question is what to do with the time, not how much to take.
3. Step two: find the right balance
The balance that counts is the fair market value of the account at the close of business on December 31 of the year before the distribution year.
That sounds unambiguous and mostly is. The custodian's year-end statement shows it, and IRA custodians must send you the year-end value by January 31, alongside the notice that an RMD is due. A few adjustments catch people out.
A rollover in transit on December 31 counts. If money left one IRA in late December and reached another in early January, the IRS treats it as belonging to the receiving account's year-end balance. Neither statement shows it, and you must add it back.
Contributions made after December 31 for the prior year do not change the balance. The figure is the year-end value, full stop.
The first-year distribution is not subtracted. If you defer your first RMD into the following year under the April 1 rule in section 7, the December 31 balance used for the second year still includes the money you have not yet taken. This is the mechanism that makes the first-year deferral so expensive.
Annuity contracts held inside an IRA can carry an actuarial value that adds to the account value for RMD purposes. If you own one, the custodian should report the adjusted figure; check that it has.
4. Step three: find your factor
Almost everyone uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, Table III in Publication 590-B. It was updated for 2022 onward to reflect longer life expectancy, which lowered every RMD slightly from the pre-2022 figures.
| Age you reach this year | Factor | Share of balance required |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 22.0 | 4.55% |
| 79 | 21.1 | 4.74% |
| 80 | 20.2 | 4.95% |
| 82 | 18.5 | 5.41% |
| 85 | 16.0 | 6.25% |
| 88 | 13.7 | 7.30% |
| 90 | 12.2 | 8.20% |
| 95 | 8.9 | 11.24% |
One exception changes the table. If your sole beneficiary for the entire year is a spouse more than ten years younger than you, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table (Table II) instead. It produces a larger factor and therefore a smaller RMD, because it is computed over two lives rather than one. This site's engine does not compute the joint table, so for this one case treat its figure as the most you could be required to take, and get the exact number from your custodian or Publication 590-B.
Beneficiaries of inherited accounts use yet another table, the Single Life Table, and most non-spouse beneficiaries now face the ten-year rule instead of lifetime distributions. The article on the inherited-IRA ten-year rule covers that case; nothing below applies to it.
Calculate this year's RMD for your own balance and birth year5. Step four: divide
With the balance and the factor, the rest is arithmetic. Three worked cases, all from the engine:
- $500,000, reaching 75 this year: $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.
- $750,000, reaching 78: $750,000 ÷ 22.0 = $34,091.
- $250,000, reaching 85: $250,000 ÷ 16.0 = $15,625.
You may take more than the minimum, and you may take it in any pattern during the year: a single withdrawal in January, monthly payments, or one transfer on December 28. All that matters for the requirement is that the total distributed from the right accounts during the calendar year reaches the figure.
Taking more than the minimum does not create a credit. An extra $10,000 taken this year does not reduce next year's RMD by $10,000. It only reduces next year's RMD indirectly, by lowering the December 31 balance it is computed on.
Withdrawals made before your first RMD year do not count toward it. Only distributions made in the distribution year (or by April 1 of the next year, for the first one) satisfy that year's requirement.
6. Which accounts can be combined, and which cannot
This is where most real mistakes happen, because the rule differs by account type and custodians only see their own accounts.
Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs can be aggregated. Calculate the RMD for each one separately, add them, and withdraw the total from any one IRA or any combination. You could empty the smallest IRA first, or take everything from the one with the worst investments.
403(b) accounts can be aggregated with each other, the same way, but not with IRAs.
Each 401(k), 457(b) and other employer plan must distribute its own RMD. Money taken from an IRA does not satisfy a 401(k)'s requirement, and money taken from one 401(k) does not satisfy another's.
A worked example. Someone reaching 75 has two IRAs worth $400,000 and $200,000 and a 401(k) from a former employer worth $300,000.
| Account | December 31 balance | RMD at 75 | Where it can come from |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRA one | $400,000 | $16,260 | Any IRA |
| IRA two | $200,000 | $8,130 | Any IRA |
| 401(k) | $300,000 | $12,195 | This 401(k) only |
| Total | $900,000 | $36,585 |
The $24,390 IRA total can come from either IRA in any split. The $12,195 must come out of the 401(k). Taking $36,585 from the larger IRA and nothing from the 401(k) satisfies the total in dollars and still leaves a $12,195 shortfall, penalised as in section 9.
This is the strongest practical argument for rolling old 401(k)s into an IRA before RMDs begin. Consolidating employer plans into one IRA turns several separate requirements into one aggregate one, and removes the most common way to miss an RMD without realising it.
7. The first-year trap: two distributions in one year
Every RMD after the first is due by December 31. The first one alone may be delayed until April 1 of the following year.
The delay is optional, and usually a mistake. The second year's RMD is still due by December 31 of that second year, so delaying the first puts two required distributions into one tax year.
The engine's figures for someone born in 1953, with $1,000,000 in an IRA at the end of 2025, who turns 73 in 2026:
- First RMD, for 2026: $1,000,000 ÷ 26.5 = $37,736. Due December 31, 2026, or deferrable to April 1, 2027.
- If deferred, the account is untouched through 2026. At a 6% return it ends 2026 at $1,060,000, still including the $37,736 not yet taken.
- Second RMD, for 2027: $1,060,000 ÷ 25.5 = $41,569. Due December 31, 2027.
- Both in 2027: $79,304 of taxable income in one year, against two years of roughly $38,000 to $42,000 each if the first had been taken on time.
Bunching that much income into one year can push it into a higher bracket, raise the share of Social Security that is taxable, and lift Medicare premiums two years later. The article on RMD taxes and withholding puts numbers on the bracket effect.
The delay makes sense in one situation: the first RMD year is a high-income year (a final year of salary, a large capital gain) and the following year will be much lower even with both distributions in it. Otherwise, take the first one in its own year.
8. Accounts that have no RMD, or not yet
Several accounts are exempt, permanently or for now.
- Roth IRAs have no required distributions while the original owner is alive.
- Designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b) have no lifetime RMD from 2024 onward, a SECURE 2.0 change that removed the old reason to roll a Roth 401(k) into a Roth IRA before 73.
- Your current employer's plan, if you are still working and do not own more than 5% of the company, can usually defer RMDs until April 1 of the year after you retire, if the plan allows it. The exception never applies to IRAs, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and never to plans from former employers.
- Inherited accounts follow separate rules, covered in the inherited-IRA article.
9. What a miss costs, and how to fix it
SECURE 2.0 cut the excise tax on a missed distribution from 50% to 25% of the shortfall, and to 10% if the shortfall is corrected within the correction window, generally by the end of the second year after the year of the miss, before the IRS assesses it.
The engine's figures on a $1,000,000 account at 73, where the requirement is $37,736:
| What happened | Shortfall | Penalty at 25% | Penalty at 10% if corrected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Took nothing | $37,736 | $9,434 | $3,774 |
| Took $20,000 | $17,736 | $4,434 | $1,774 |
The penalty is in addition to the income tax, which is still owed on the distribution whenever it is finally taken.
The fix has three parts. Take the missed amount as soon as you notice. File Form 5329 for the year of the miss, reporting the shortfall. And if the miss had a reasonable cause, such as a custodian's error or a serious illness, attach a statement asking the IRS to waive the tax; it frequently does when the shortfall has already been made up.
10. Five mistakes worth avoiding
- Taking a 401(k)'s RMD from an IRA, or one 401(k)'s from another. Aggregation works only within IRAs and within 403(b)s.
- Using this year's balance. The figure is December 31 of last year, even if the market has moved a long way since.
- Deferring the first RMD by default and creating a two-distribution year with no reason to.
- Converting to Roth before taking the year's RMD. The first dollars out of an IRA in an RMD year are treated as the RMD, and an RMD cannot be converted or rolled over. Take the RMD first, then convert.
- Trusting each custodian's figure as the whole answer. Each custodian calculates the RMD on the accounts it holds and knows nothing of the others. Two IRAs at two firms produce two notices, and neither tells you the total.
11. Checking your custodian's number
IRA custodians are required to tell you, by January 31, that an RMD is due and either the amount or an offer to calculate it. Most simply state the amount. Check it, and check it the way the custodian cannot.
Confirm the December 31 balance against your year-end statement and add any rollover in transit.
Confirm the age is the one you reach this year, not the one you were when the notice was printed.
Confirm the table. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than ten years younger, the custodian should have used the Joint Life table; many default to Uniform unless told.
Add up every account yourself, by type: the IRA total that can come from anywhere, and each employer plan's own figure.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my required minimum distribution? Divide the account's balance on December 31 of last year by the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor for the age you reach this year. A $500,000 IRA at 75 divides by 24.6, giving $20,325.
At what age do RMDs start? It depends on your birth year: 72 for 1950 or earlier, 73 for 1951 through 1959, and 75 for 1960 or later, under SECURE 2.0.
Which balance do I use? The fair market value on December 31 of the year before the distribution year, from your year-end statement, plus any rollover that was in transit on that date.
Can I take all my RMDs from one account? For IRAs, yes: calculate each IRA's RMD, add them, and take the total from any of them. 403(b)s can be combined the same way among themselves. Each 401(k) and 457(b) must pay its own RMD.
Should I delay my first RMD until April 1? Usually not. Delaying puts two distributions in one tax year. On a $1 million IRA at 73 that is $37,736 plus about $41,569, or $79,304, in a single year. It makes sense only if the first year is unusually high-income and the next will be much lower.
Do Roth accounts have RMDs? Roth IRAs have none during the owner's lifetime, and Roth accounts inside 401(k) and 403(b) plans have none from 2024 onward.
What if my spouse is much younger than me? If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than ten years younger, you use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table, which gives a smaller RMD. This site's calculator shows the Uniform Table figure, which is the most you could be required to take.
What is the penalty for missing an RMD? 25% of the amount you failed to take, cut to 10% if corrected promptly, plus the income tax still owed when you take it. Report it on Form 5329 and request a waiver if the miss had a reasonable cause.
Can I take more than the minimum? Yes, at any time and in any amount. Extra withdrawals do not carry forward as a credit against next year's RMD; they only lower next year's figure by reducing the balance it is calculated on.
What to do next
Run each of your accounts through the RMD calculator with its December 31 balance and your birth year. It returns the starting age, this year's figure and what a miss would cost. Add the IRA results into one total and keep each employer plan separate. Then look at what the distributions will cost: the article on RMD taxes and withholding shows the federal tax at different income levels, and the retirement tax by state calculator shows what your state adds.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Figures in this article are computed by this site's RMD engine, which divides a single account's prior year-end balance by the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor in Publication 590-B and applies the SECURE 2.0 starting ages and the 25% and 10% excise rates. The 6% return in the first-year example is an illustration, not a forecast. The engine does not compute the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table, inherited-account distributions or annuity actuarial values. This is general education and not tax advice; for your own situation consult a licensed tax professional.