RMD Calculator 2026: Required Minimum Distributions Explained

What an RMD is and who has to take one

Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, SEP IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs all share a deal with the IRS: you got a tax deduction going in, the money grew tax-deferred for decades, and now the IRS wants its cut. Required minimum distributions are the enforcement mechanism, a yearly minimum withdrawal that counts as ordinary income.

RMDs apply to the original account owner starting at their RMD age. They do not apply to Roth IRAs during the owner's lifetime, and since 2024 they no longer apply to designated Roth accounts inside 401(k) plans either. Inherited IRAs (both traditional and Roth) have their own distribution rules for beneficiaries, which are separate from everything in this guide.

One more wrinkle: if you have multiple traditional IRAs, you calculate the RMD for each but can withdraw the total from any one of them. Employer plans don't allow that, you must take a separate RMD from each 401(k).

Your RMD age under SECURE 2.0

Congress moved the goalposts twice. The original SECURE Act raised the RMD age from 70 and a half to 72, then SECURE 2.0 (signed in late 2022) raised it again on a birth-year schedule:

Note the boundary carefully: someone born December 31, 1959 starts RMDs at 73, while someone born January 1, 1960 waits until 75. If your birthday falls near a boundary year, confirm the exact year, since a one-year ambiguity in your birth year can shift your RMD start age.

How your RMD is calculated

The formula never changes:

The IRS updated the life-expectancy tables effective 2022 to reflect longer lifespans, which slightly reduced RMDs. Here are the factors for the ages that matter most:

A worked example

Say you turn 73 in 2026 and your traditional IRA was worth $600,000 on December 31, 2025. Your factor is 26.5. Your 2026 RMD is $600,000 ÷ 26.5 = $22,642, which you must withdraw by December 31, 2026. Notice the percentage climbs every year: by 85 you're forced to take 6.3% of the balance, which is why RMDs tend to push retirees into higher brackets over time even as the account shrinks.

If your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you and is your sole beneficiary, you use the Joint Life Table instead, which gives larger factors and smaller RMDs. Everyone else uses the Uniform Lifetime Table above.

Deadlines and penalties

Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of that year. The first one gets a one-time extension: you may delay it until April 1 of the year after you reach RMD age. That sounds generous, but it's usually a trap. Delaying means you take two RMDs in one calendar year (last year's in April, this year's by December), stacking two years of taxable income into one return and potentially bumping yourself into a higher bracket and an IRMAA tier. Most people are better off taking the first RMD by December 31 of the RMD year.

Miss an RMD entirely and the IRS imposes an excise tax of 25% of the shortfall, reported on Form 5329. Correct it within two years and the penalty drops to 10%. If you discover a missed RMD, take the distribution immediately, file the form, and many practitioners also request a penalty waiver for reasonable error, which the IRS frequently grants.

Five ways to shrink future RMDs

Your RMD is a percentage of your balance, so anything that moves money out of tax-deferred accounts before RMD age shrinks every future RMD. The strategies stack.

1. Roth conversions in your 60s

The single most powerful lever. Convert during the low-income gap years between retirement and RMD age, ideally filling up the 12% or 22% bracket each year. Every dollar converted is a dollar that will never generate an RMD. A couple that converts $80,000 a year for 10 years at 12% moves $800,000 out of the RMD base at a rate far below what RMDs would have cost at 22% or 24%.

2. Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs)

Starting at 70 and a half, you can send up to $111,000 per person per year (2026 limit) directly from your IRA to charity. A QCD counts toward your RMD but never appears in your taxable income, which also keeps your MAGI down for IRMAA purposes. You can start QCDs before RMD age, shrinking the balance the IRS will later force you to draw.

3. Qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs)

A QLAC lets you exclude up to about $210,000 of IRA money from the RMD calculation until age 85. It's a niche tool, but for someone with a large balance who wants to cap early RMDs, it's worth knowing about.

4. The still-working exception

If you're still employed at RMD age and don't own more than 5% of the company, you can delay RMDs from your current employer's plan until you retire. This doesn't apply to IRAs or old 401(k)s from previous employers, so roll those elsewhere or start their RMDs on schedule.

5. Spend tax-deferred money first in early retirement

Counterintuitive if you've been told to let tax-deferred accounts compound, but drawing down the traditional IRA for living expenses in your 60s directly reduces the balance that RMDs are computed from. NestCalc's withdrawal sequencing models exactly this tradeoff year by year.

Common RMD mistakes

• Using today's balance instead of December 31. The RMD is always based on the prior year-end balance. A market drop in January doesn't reduce this year's RMD.
• Aggregating across 401(k)s. You can aggregate IRAs and take the total from one account, but each employer plan needs its own RMD.
• Taking the April 1 extension without doing the math. Two RMDs in one year can spike your bracket and your Medicare premiums. Usually worse than just taking it in December.
• Forgetting that RMDs raise IRMAA. RMD income counts toward the MAGI that sets your Medicare premiums two years later. At 2026 tiers, crossing $109,000 single or $218,000 joint adds roughly $975 a year per person in Part B surcharges alone.
• Doing nothing until 73 or 75. By RMD age the planning window has closed. The conversions, QCDs, and drawdown sequencing that shrink RMDs have to happen in your 60s.

Frequently asked questions

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