Most people who search for their required minimum distribution want one number, and the number is easy to give: last year's closing balance divided by an IRS factor for this year's age. The step-by-step article walks through every part of that.
This one answers the question that comes straight after it. What does the requirement look like at my balance, at my age, and over the years ahead?
The answer has two halves. The first is a table: every common balance against every age, read straight off the IRS divisor. The second is a projection, and it matters more. The table assumes the balance holds still, and it never does. An account that keeps earning a decent return produces a required distribution that rises for decades, not one that gently tapers. People planning for a fixed RMD are routinely surprised by how much larger it becomes.
A note before you start. This is general education, not tax or investment advice. Every figure comes from this site's RMD engine, which applies the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table in Publication 590-B to a single account's prior year-end balance. The projections in section 4 assume a constant annual return after the RMD is withdrawn each year; returns are illustrations, not forecasts. A spouse more than ten years younger who is the sole beneficiary reduces every figure here, and inherited accounts follow different rules entirely.
1. The table: every balance, every age
Required minimum distribution, in dollars, for the age you reach this year and the account's balance on December 31 of last year:
| Age | Factor | Share | $100,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $750,000 | $1M | $1.5M | $2M | $3M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | 3.77% | $3,774 | $9,434 | $18,868 | $28,302 | $37,736 | $56,604 | $75,472 | $113,208 |
| 74 | 25.5 | 3.92% | $3,922 | $9,804 | $19,608 | $29,412 | $39,216 | $58,824 | $78,431 | $117,647 |
| 75 | 24.6 | 4.07% | $4,065 | $10,163 | $20,325 | $30,488 | $40,650 | $60,976 | $81,301 | $121,951 |
| 76 | 23.7 | 4.22% | $4,219 | $10,549 | $21,097 | $31,646 | $42,194 | $63,291 | $84,388 | $126,582 |
| 77 | 22.9 | 4.37% | $4,367 | $10,917 | $21,834 | $32,751 | $43,668 | $65,502 | $87,336 | $131,004 |
| 78 | 22.0 | 4.55% | $4,545 | $11,364 | $22,727 | $34,091 | $45,455 | $68,182 | $90,909 | $136,364 |
| 79 | 21.1 | 4.74% | $4,739 | $11,848 | $23,697 | $35,545 | $47,393 | $71,090 | $94,787 | $142,180 |
| 80 | 20.2 | 4.95% | $4,950 | $12,376 | $24,752 | $37,129 | $49,505 | $74,257 | $99,010 | $148,515 |
| 82 | 18.5 | 5.41% | $5,405 | $13,514 | $27,027 | $40,541 | $54,054 | $81,081 | $108,108 | $162,162 |
| 85 | 16.0 | 6.25% | $6,250 | $15,625 | $31,250 | $46,875 | $62,500 | $93,750 | $125,000 | $187,500 |
| 88 | 13.7 | 7.30% | $7,299 | $18,248 | $36,496 | $54,745 | $72,993 | $109,489 | $145,985 | $218,978 |
| 90 | 12.2 | 8.20% | $8,197 | $20,492 | $40,984 | $61,475 | $81,967 | $122,951 | $163,934 | $245,902 |
| 95 | 8.9 | 11.24% | $11,236 | $28,090 | $56,180 | $84,270 | $112,360 | $168,539 | $224,719 | $337,079 |
Two ways to read it. Across a row, the RMD is simply proportional to the balance: double the account, double the requirement. Down a column, the requirement rises with age even if the balance does not move, because the divisor shrinks. That second effect is the one people underestimate.
For a balance between the columns, use the share. At 77 the share is 4.37%, so a $640,000 account requires about $28,000. The RMD calculator does the exact division for any balance.
2. Reading the share, and why it rises
The divisor is a life-expectancy figure from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. It is, roughly, the number of years over which the table assumes the account will be paid out, computed as if a beneficiary ten years younger were alongside you. Dividing by it gives the share of the balance you must take.
Each year the divisor falls by somewhat less than a year, because surviving another year raises your expected lifespan a little. So the required share climbs steadily:
- 3.77% at 73, the first year for anyone born from 1951 to 1959.
- 4.07% at 75, the first year for anyone born in 1960 or later.
- 4.95% at 80, close to the 4% to 5% that many retirement plans assume as a sustainable withdrawal.
- 6.25% at 85, above what a balanced portfolio usually earns.
- 8.2% at 90 and 11.24% at 95, where the account is being drawn down quickly by design.
The share is the number to compare with your expected return. While the share stays a little below the return, the account grows despite the withdrawals. Once it passes that point, the account starts shrinking. Section 5 puts ages on that crossover.
3. RMDs on $500,000, $1 million and $2 million
These three balances account for most of the questions people ask, so here they are on their own, with a monthly equivalent for anyone who takes the distribution in twelve payments.
| Age | $500,000 | per month | $1 million | per month | $2 million | per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | $18,868 | $1,572 | $37,736 | $3,145 | $75,472 | $6,289 |
| 75 | $20,325 | $1,694 | $40,650 | $3,388 | $81,301 | $6,775 |
| 80 | $24,752 | $2,063 | $49,505 | $4,125 | $99,010 | $8,251 |
| 85 | $31,250 | $2,604 | $62,500 | $5,208 | $125,000 | $10,417 |
| 90 | $40,984 | $3,415 | $81,967 | $6,831 | $163,934 | $13,661 |
The $2 million figures deserve a second look. At 73 the requirement is $75,472, which on its own puts a single filer in the 22% federal bracket. By 85, if the balance has merely held steady, it is $125,000 a year of compulsory taxable income, before Social Security or a pension. The article on RMD taxes shows what that does to the bracket and to the share of Social Security that is taxed.
These are per-account figures added together. Someone with $2 million split across three IRAs computes three RMDs that sum to the same total, and may take that total from any of the three. Someone whose $2 million includes a 401(k) must take that plan's share from the plan itself. The step-by-step article covers which accounts can be combined.
Run your own balance and birth year through the RMD calculator4. What happens over twenty years
The table holds the balance still. Here is what the engine produces when it does not. Each row starts with $1,000,000 at 73, takes the RMD each year, and grows what remains at a constant return.
At a 0% return, the account only shrinks:
| Age | Balance at start of year | RMD | Share | Taken so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | $1,000,000 | $37,736 | 3.77% | $37,736 |
| 75 | $924,528 | $37,582 | 4.07% | $113,054 |
| 80 | $738,743 | $36,571 | 4.95% | $297,828 |
| 85 | $559,006 | $34,938 | 6.25% | $475,932 |
| 90 | $389,597 | $31,934 | 8.20% | $642,337 |
| 95 | $238,882 | $26,841 | 11.24% | $787,959 |
At a 5% return, the balance hovers near $1 million for a decade and the RMD nearly doubles:
| Age | Balance at start of year | RMD | Share | Taken so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | $1,000,000 | $37,736 | 3.77% | $37,736 |
| 75 | $1,019,292 | $41,435 | 4.07% | $118,793 |
| 80 | $1,039,486 | $51,460 | 4.95% | $355,051 |
| 85 | $1,003,895 | $62,743 | 6.25% | $645,604 |
| 90 | $892,963 | $73,194 | 8.20% | $991,728 |
| 95 | $698,791 | $78,516 | 11.24% | $1,377,641 |
At a 7% return, the account keeps growing well into the 80s and the RMD more than triples:
| Age | Balance at start of year | RMD | Share | Taken so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | $1,000,000 | $37,736 | 3.77% | $37,736 |
| 75 | $1,058,492 | $43,028 | 4.07% | $121,141 |
| 80 | $1,186,260 | $58,726 | 4.95% | $381,291 |
| 85 | $1,258,989 | $78,687 | 6.25% | $732,833 |
| 90 | $1,230,665 | $100,874 | 8.20% | $1,192,866 |
| 95 | $1,058,342 | $118,915 | 11.24% | $1,756,152 |
The 7% case is the one to sit with. By 90 the account has already paid out $1.19 million, more than it started with, and still holds $1.23 million. The required distribution that year is $100,874, about 2.7 times the first year's. Someone who planned their tax picture around a $38,000 RMD would be facing a figure in six digits.
5. When the balance stops growing
The account grows in any year where the return on what is left after the RMD adds more than the RMD took out. That holds while the required share is below the return divided by one plus the return, a touch under the return itself: 4.76% for a 5% return, 6.54% for 7%. The crossover comes at a predictable age:
| Annual return | Grows while the share is below | Share first passes that at | Balance peaks at about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0% | 73 | Never grows |
| 4% | 3.85% | 74, at 3.92% | 74 |
| 5% | 4.76% | 80, at 4.95% | 80 |
| 6% | 5.66% | 84, at 5.95% | 84 |
| 7% | 6.54% | 86, at 6.58% | 86 |
These are approximate because a real portfolio's return varies year to year, and a bad year early in retirement depresses the balance in a way a good year later does not fully repair. But the shape is reliable. At the returns most balanced portfolios have historically produced, RMDs rise in dollars for the first ten to twenty years, because even a shrinking balance is divided by a shrinking factor. In the 7% projection the RMD is still rising at 95.
That has a practical consequence. The tax bracket you are in at 73 is often not the bracket you will be in at 85, even with no change in your other income. Planning around the first RMD understates the problem the later ones create.
6. Starting at 75 instead of 73
SECURE 2.0 moved the starting age to 75 for anyone born in 1960 or later. The first required share is then 4.07%, not 3.77%, because the divisor at 75 is 24.6.
On $1 million that first RMD is $40,650. On $2 million it is $81,301.
Starting later does not mean a smaller RMD. It means two more years in which the balance can grow untouched, and a first distribution taken at a higher share of a probably larger balance. A $1 million account at 73 that grows at 5% with nothing withdrawn is about $1,102,500 at 75, and its first RMD is then about $44,800. That is roughly $7,000 more than the $37,736 it would have required at 73, in exchange for two years with nothing required at all.
The two extra years are the opportunity. They are years in which a pre-tax balance can be drawn down or converted to Roth at whatever rate suits you, before the required distributions begin. Every dollar moved out of the traditional account before 75 lowers every RMD after it, for the rest of your life.
7. The first year, and the year the rules bunch it
The first RMD may be delayed until April 1 of the following year. The second is still due by December 31 of that year, so delaying the first puts two distributions into one tax year.
On $1,000,000 at 73, the engine's figures are $37,736 for the first year and, if the account grows 6% while the first one waits, about $41,569 for the second: $79,304 in a single year. On $2 million both figures double, to roughly $158,600.
That is the single largest one-year spike most retirees will face, and it is entirely optional. Taking the first RMD in its own year avoids it. The step-by-step article covers the one situation where the delay is worth it.
8. What lowers these figures, and what does not
What lowers them:
- A spouse more than ten years younger as sole beneficiary. The Joint Life and Last Survivor table gives a larger divisor and a smaller RMD than every figure above.
- A smaller December 31 balance. Roth conversions, withdrawals taken before RMDs start, and qualified charitable distributions in earlier years all reduce the balance future RMDs are computed on.
- Moving money to a Roth account. Roth IRAs, and since 2024 Roth accounts inside 401(k) plans, have no lifetime RMD.
What does not lower them:
- Taking more than the minimum this year does not reduce next year's requirement directly, only through the smaller balance.
- Moving the money between IRAs changes nothing; the requirement follows the total.
- Holding cash instead of investments lowers the future balance only by lowering the return, which is a poor trade for a smaller tax bill.
- Delaying the first one to April moves the money, it does not reduce it.
9. Where to go from the table
The table answers "how much"; the next questions are what it costs and where it should come from.
The cost is federal income tax at your marginal rate, plus state tax in most states, plus two knock-on effects: the share of Social Security that becomes taxable, and Medicare premiums two years later. The RMD taxes article puts numbers on each, and the article on RMDs and state tax covers where you live.
The source matters when you hold several accounts. IRA RMDs can be taken from whichever IRA you choose, which makes the RMD a chance to rebalance: take it from the account holding what you would like to own less of.
And the timing across years matters most of all. The projections above show RMDs rising for a decade or more at ordinary returns. Anyone in their late 60s or early 70s with a large pre-tax balance should model the later years, not just the first one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the RMD on $1 million at 73? $37,736, which is $1,000,000 divided by the IRS factor of 26.5. That is 3.77% of the balance, or about $3,145 a month.
What is the RMD on $2 million? $75,472 at 73, $81,301 at 75, $99,010 at 80, $125,000 at 85 and $163,934 at 90, if the balance stays at $2 million. In practice the balance changes each year, and at a 5% to 7% return the dollar amount rises faster than these figures.
What is the RMD on $500,000? $18,868 at 73, $20,325 at 75, $24,752 at 80, $31,250 at 85 and $40,984 at 90, on a balance of $500,000.
Why does my RMD go up every year? Because the IRS divisor falls every year, so the share you must take rises: from 3.77% at 73 to 4.95% at 80 and 8.2% at 90. If the account is also growing, the dollar amount rises faster still.
Will my RMDs drain my account? Not quickly. At a 5% return a $1 million account at 73 still holds about $893,000 at 90; at 7% it holds about $1.23 million. The account declines only once the required share passes a point just below the return, which at 5% is around age 80 and at 7% around 86.
Is the RMD the same at 73 and 75? No. The share is 3.77% at 73 and 4.07% at 75. Someone born in 1960 or later starts at 75, so their first RMD is a larger share of what is usually a larger balance.
Does a younger spouse change my RMD? Only if your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than ten years younger. Then the Joint Life and Last Survivor table applies and your RMD is smaller than these figures.
How much is my RMD per month? Divide the annual figure by twelve. You can take it monthly, quarterly or in one payment; the requirement is only that the year's total is distributed by December 31.
What to do next
Put your actual December 31 balance and birth year into the RMD calculator for this year's exact figure, account by account. Then run the projection that matters: if your balance is large and your other income is steady, use the tables in section 4 to see what the RMD becomes at 80 and 85, and check what that does to your bracket with the RMD taxes article. If the later figures look uncomfortable, the Roth vs. Traditional calculator shows whether converting some of the balance before RMDs begin would leave you ahead.
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 by projections that withdraw each year's RMD and grow the remainder at the stated constant return. Returns of 0%, 5% and 7% are illustrations, not forecasts, and real returns vary year to year. Monthly figures are the annual RMD divided by twelve. The figures do not apply the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table or inherited-account rules. This is general education and not tax or investment advice; for your own situation consult a licensed professional.