Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Guide

What RMDs are · When they start · How to calculate them · Penalties · Strategies to reduce RMDs

When you save in a traditional IRA or 401(k), the IRS defers your taxes during the accumulation years — but it never forgot about them. Starting at age 73, the government requires you to withdraw a minimum amount each year and pay the taxes owed. These are Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), and ignoring them can trigger one of the harshest penalties in the tax code.

Calculate your RMD instantly

Enter your age and account balance to find your exact 2026 Required Minimum Distribution using the current IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.

Open Calculator →

What is an RMD?

A Required Minimum Distribution is the minimum amount you must withdraw from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts each year once you reach the required start age. The IRS mandates RMDs to ensure that retirement savings — which were allowed to grow tax-deferred — are eventually taxed.

Accounts subject to RMDs

  • Traditional IRA
  • Rollover IRA
  • SEP-IRA
  • SIMPLE IRA
  • 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) plans (employer-sponsored)
  • Inherited IRAs (special rules apply — see below)

Accounts NOT subject to RMDs (during your lifetime)

  • Roth IRA (original owner — no RMDs ever during your lifetime)
  • Roth 401(k) / Roth 403(b) (starting 2024 per SECURE 2.0)
  • Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

When do RMDs start?

The required beginning date (RBD) has changed several times through legislation. The current rules under SECURE 2.0 (2022):

BornRMD start ageLaw
Before July 1, 194970½Pre-SECURE Act
July 1, 1949 – Dec 31, 195072SECURE Act (2019)
Jan 1, 1951 – Dec 31, 195973SECURE 2.0 (2022)
Jan 1, 1960 or later75SECURE 2.0 (2022)
First RMD deadline: You must take your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reach your required start age. Every subsequent RMD is due by December 31 of that year. Taking two RMDs in one year (first + second) can push you into a higher tax bracket — plan accordingly.
Still working exception: If you are still employed and participating in your current employer's 401(k), you may be able to delay RMDs from that specific plan until you retire — but this exception does not apply to IRAs or old 401(k) accounts.

How your RMD is calculated

Your RMD is determined by dividing your account balance (as of December 31 of the prior year) by a life expectancy factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table:

RMD formula

RMD = Prior Year-End Balance ÷ IRS Life Expectancy Factor

Sample RMDs for a $500,000 account balance using the 2022+ Uniform Lifetime Table:

AgeIRS factorRMD on $500,000As % of balance
7326.5$18,8683.77%
7425.5$19,6083.92%
7524.6$20,3254.07%
7623.7$21,0974.22%
7822$22,7274.55%
8020.2$24,7524.95%
8516$31,2506.25%
9012.2$40,9848.20%
959.2$54,34810.87%

The factor decreases each year, so your RMD percentage rises as you age. At 73 it's ~3.8%; by 90 it's over 8%.

Multiple accounts: If you have multiple traditional IRAs, you calculate each RMD separately but can withdraw the total from any one or combination of those IRAs. For 401(k) accounts, each plan's RMD must be taken from that specific plan — you cannot aggregate them.

Penalties for missing or shorting an RMD

The penalty for failing to take a required distribution was one of the steepest in tax law. SECURE 2.0 reduced it, but it's still significant:

Penalty: 25% of the amount not withdrawn

If your RMD was $20,000 and you forgot to take it, you owe a $5,000 penalty — on top of ordinary income tax when you eventually withdraw.

The penalty is reduced to 10% if you correct the error within a 2-year “correction window” (taking the missed RMD and filing Form 5329).

IRS waiver: The IRS can waive the penalty if the failure was due to reasonable error and you are taking steps to remedy the situation. This is relatively easy to obtain for first-time mistakes — file Form 5329 and attach a letter of explanation.

How RMDs are taxed

RMDs from traditional accounts are taxed as ordinary income in the year you receive them — just like a paycheck. They stack on top of Social Security income, investment income, and any other taxable income, potentially pushing you into a higher bracket.

Medicare IRMAA surcharges

Large RMDs can push your MAGI above Medicare income thresholds, triggering Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) surcharges that increase your Part B and Part D premiums — by hundreds of dollars per month.

Social Security taxation

RMDs increase your combined income, potentially making up to 85% of your Social Security benefit taxable. This can effectively double-tax your RMD — once directly, and once by exposing more SS income.

Strategies to reduce or manage RMDs

1. Roth conversions before RMDs begin

Converting traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA in the years between retirement and age 73 reduces the balance subject to RMDs. Roth IRAs have no RMDs during your lifetime. Converting in low-income years (before Social Security or pension starts) keeps the tax cost manageable.

2. Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

If you are 70½ or older, you can transfer up to $111,000 per year (2026 limit, indexed for inflation) directly from your IRA to a qualified charity. This counts toward your RMD but is excluded from your taxable income — effectively a zero-tax distribution. You must not receive it first; the IRA custodian pays the charity directly.

3. Systematic early withdrawals

Taking voluntary withdrawals from your IRA before RMDs begin (between retirement and age 73) reduces the account balance, resulting in lower mandatory RMDs later. If done in years with lower tax rates, these withdrawals can be taxed at 10–12% instead of the 22–32% bracket you'd hit with large future RMDs.

4. Still-working exception

If you continue working past your RMD start age, you can defer RMDs from your current employer's 401(k) plan until you actually retire. This does NOT apply to IRAs or prior-employer plans.

5. Reinvest RMDs if not needed for spending

You cannot put an RMD back into an IRA, but you can invest it in a taxable brokerage account. Future growth will be taxed at lower capital gains rates (0%, 15%, or 20%) rather than ordinary income rates, recovering some of the tax efficiency.

Inherited IRAs — the 10-year rule

If you inherit an IRA from someone who died after December 31, 2019, the SECURE Act's 10-year rule generally requires you to empty the account within 10 years of the original owner's death.

Who is exempt from the 10-year rule?

  • Surviving spouse (can treat the IRA as their own)
  • Minor child of the deceased (until they reach the age of majority)
  • Disabled or chronically ill beneficiaries
  • Beneficiaries within 10 years of age of the deceased
Important: If the original owner had already started taking RMDs, non-spouse beneficiaries under the 10-year rule must also take annual RMDs during those 10 years AND empty the account by year 10. IRS rules in this area are still being finalized — consult a tax advisor for inherited IRA planning.

Calculate your Required Minimum Distribution

Enter your age and prior year-end balance to instantly calculate your RMD using the current IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.

Open RMD Calculator →

🏛️ Official Government Resources