RMD Calculator

After a certain age, the rules require you to take money out of most traditional retirement accounts each year. This estimates that yearly amount from your account balance and your age.

This is an unofficial estimate from published rules. Your account provider can tell you its own figure. The IRS publishes the table and the rules in Publication 590-B on its website.

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Updated 2026-11-05

How it works

Take the account balance on December 31 of last year and divide it by the distribution period for your age from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. For example, the period at age 75 is 24.6.

The starting age is an input. It is 73 for most people born from 1951 through 1959 and 75 for people born in 1960 or later, under the SECURE 2.0 Act. If you were born in 1959, check the current IRS guidance. Below the starting age the answer shows zero. This table does not cover an owner whose only beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, or inherited accounts.

Worked example

An account worth $400,000.00 at the end of last year, for someone turning 75, is divided by a distribution period of 24.6. The required minimum for the year is $16,260, which is 4.07% of the balance, or about $1,355 a month.

Questions

When must I take my first one?

By April 1 of the year after you reach your starting age. If you wait, you take two in that year, which can raise your tax bill.

Which balance do I use?

Use the value of the account on December 31 of the year before. If you have several IRAs, work out each one, though the total can come from any of them.

Does a Roth IRA have one?

Roth IRAs do not require withdrawals while the owner is alive. Most other retirement accounts do.

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