How to use this calculator
- Choose the tax year you want the RMD for, and enter the year you were born.
- Tick each kind of account you have and enter what it held on December 31 of the year before. Your December statement shows it; for an IRA, so does box 5 of Form 5498. Leave out Roth accounts and anything you inherited.
- If you still work for the employer behind your 401(k) or 403(b), say so, and when you expect to retire.
- If your spouse was your only beneficiary for the whole year, turn that on and enter your spouse's birth year.
- Under More options, enter any gifts from your IRAs straight to charity and anything you have already taken for the year. The result then shows what is left to take.
The numbers already filled in are an example. Replace them with your own.
How it's calculated
Each year's RMD is the account's balance on December 31 of the previous year divided by the factor for the age you reach that year. The factor comes from the Uniform Lifetime Table unless your spouse is your only beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, in which case it comes from the Joint and Last Survivor Table. The result is rounded to the cent.
An example
Say you were born in 1951 and your IRAs held $500,000 on December 31, 2025. In 2026 you turn 75, and the table's factor for 75 is 24.6. Your 2026 RMD is $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20, due by December 31, 2026.
If your spouse were your only beneficiary and born in 1962, the joint table's factor for ages 75 and 64 is 25.3, and the RMD falls to $19,762.85.
When RMDs start
- Born 1951 through 1958: the year you turn 73.
- Born 1959: 73 under proposed regulations. The final regulations leave this year unresolved, because the law's two age tests overlap for it; the calculator uses 73 and says so.
- Born 1960 or later: the year you turn 75.
- Born 1950 or earlier: your RMDs are already under way.
The first year and April 1
Your first RMD can wait until April 1 of the following year; every later one is due by December 31. Waiting means two withdrawals in one tax year. Born in 1953 with $500,000 in IRAs, the 2026 RMD is $18,867.92. Wait until April 1, 2027, and you take $39,848.31 in 2027: $18,867.92 for 2026 and $20,980.39 for 2027, which is figured on the December 31, 2026 balance before the delayed withdrawal comes out. The projection assumes a 7.0% return.
Which account pays
Each account has its own RMD, but IRAs can pay for each other: add up the IRA RMDs and take the total from any IRA you choose. 403(b)s work the same way among themselves. Each 401(k) or 457(b) pays its own, and money never crosses between the groups (see account aggregation).
Still working
If you still work for the employer that sponsors your 401(k), 457(b) or 403(b), that plan's first RMD is for the year you retire, due by April 1 of the next year. This does not apply if you or your family own more than 5% of the business, and it never applies to IRAs.
Gifts to charity
A qualified charitable distribution paid straight from your IRA to a charity counts toward your IRA RMD. In the example, a $10,000 QCD leaves $10,325.20 still to withdraw, and up to $111,000 of QCDs in 2026 stays out of your taxable income.
Future years
The projection grows each account at the return you choose, takes out exactly the minimum (or your QCD, if larger) at the end of each year, and works out the next year's RMD from what is left. The spouse table is re-checked each year, and the projection runs to age 95.
Assumptions and limits
- Balances are what you enter for December 31 of the year before the tax year. A workplace plan uses its own last valuation date that year and may adjust for contributions or distributions after it; your plan's figure governs.
- Enter pre-tax money only. Roth IRAs have no RMDs while you are alive, and Roth money in a 401(k) or 403(b) has been exempt since 2024.
- If your spouse is the only beneficiary of some accounts but not others, run the calculator once for each set, because the table follows each account's beneficiary.
- The still-working exception covers one current employer: its plan, and your 403(b)s if they are all with that employer. Your plan may require RMDs at your RMD age anyway.
- A QCD is counted only in years you have an IRA RMD, and is assumed to come entirely from pre-tax money. If your IRAs hold after-tax contributions, or you deducted IRA contributions after 70½, less of it may be tax-free.
- Future years assume the return you set, withdrawals at the end of each year, and the same QCD every year. They use this year's QCD limit, because each year's is set the autumn before.
- It does not cover inherited accounts, the year of the account owner's death, annuities held inside an IRA, 403(b) amounts from before 1987, more than one workplace plan at a time, state rules, or the tax you will owe on the withdrawal.
Input field details
What to enter in each box, where to find the number, and how this calculator treats it. When two calculators give different answers from the same numbers, it's usually because they handle one of these differently.
Year you were born
The year on your birth certificate.
How this tool treats itYour birth year sets the age your RMDs start (73 if you were born from 1951 to 1959, 75 from 1960) and the row of the table used each year, which is your age on your birthday that year.
Allowed range1910 to 1995
Not includedPeople born in 1959: the final regulations leave their RMD age open and the proposed regulations set it at 73, which is what this uses.
Your accounts
Tick each kind of pre-tax account you own: IRAs (traditional, rollover, SEP and SIMPLE), 403(b)s, and one 401(k), 457(b) or other employer plan.
How this tool treats itThe three kinds are kept apart. Your IRA total may come from any one or more IRAs and your 403(b) total from any 403(b), but a 401(k) or 457(b) must pay its own RMD. A withdrawal from one kind never counts toward another.
Not includedRoth IRAs, which have no RMDs while you are alive; inherited accounts; and more than one workplace plan in the same run.
IRA balances on December 31
The total of every traditional, rollover, SEP and SIMPLE IRA you own, on December 31 of the year before the tax year.
Where to find itEach IRA’s December statement, or box 5 of the Form 5498 its custodian sends you.
How this tool treats itThe RMD for a year is figured on the balance at the end of the year before, whatever you add or take out after that date.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Not includedRoth IRAs and IRAs you inherited.
403(b) balances on December 31
The pre-tax total of every 403(b) you own, on December 31 of the year before the tax year.
Where to find itEach 403(b)’s year-end statement.
How this tool treats itThe RMD for a year is figured on the balance at the end of the year before, whatever you add or take out after that date.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Not includedRoth money inside a 403(b), which has had no RMDs since 2024, and 403(b)s you inherited.
Plan balance on December 31
The pre-tax balance of one 401(k), 457(b) or other employer plan.
Where to find itThe plan’s year-end statement. The plan values the account on its own date and may adjust for contributions or withdrawals after it, so its figure governs.
How this tool treats itThe RMD for a year is figured on the balance at the end of the year before, whatever you add or take out after that date.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Not includedRoth money in the plan, and a second plan. A SEP or SIMPLE IRA is an IRA, not a plan, and goes with your IRAs.
I still work for the employer behind these 403(b)s
On only if you still work for that employer and every 403(b) you entered is with it.
How this tool treats itWhile you work there, the 403(b)s have no RMD. The first is for the year you retire, and it can wait until April 1 of the next year. Your IRAs keep their own schedule either way.
Not includedA plan whose documents require RMDs at your RMD age anyway, which a plan may choose to do. Check with the plan.
I still work for this plan’s employer, and neither I nor my family owned more than 5% of it
On only if both are true. Shares your spouse, children, grandchildren or parents own count as yours, and the test is fixed in the year you reached your RMD age.
How this tool treats itWhile you work there, the plan has no RMD. The first is for the year you retire, and it can wait until April 1 of the next year. Government plans have no 5% test.
Not includedIRAs, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs an employer set up, which never get this exception. A plan may also choose to require RMDs at your RMD age; its documents say which.
Years until you retire there
How many years from the tax year until you leave that employer. Enter 0 if you retire this year.
How this tool treats itOne figure for both the plan and the 403(b)s, on the basis that you have one current employer. The retirement year is the first RMD year for those accounts, unless you reach your RMD age later.
Allowed range0 to 30 years
My spouse was my only beneficiary all year
On if you were married on January 1 of the tax year and your spouse was the only beneficiary of every account you ticked, for the whole year.
How this tool treats itIf your spouse is more than ten years younger, the Joint and Last Survivor Table applies, which gives a smaller RMD. Otherwise the Uniform Lifetime Table applies, as it does when this is off.
Not includedA trust for your spouse, which is not your spouse for this rule, and a beneficiary who changed during the year. If your spouse is the only beneficiary of some accounts but not others, run the calculator once for each set.
Year your spouse was born
Your spouse’s birth year.
How this tool treats itThe joint table applies when your spouse was born 11 or more calendar years after you. At a gap of exactly 10 years the two tables give the same factor, so the date within the year makes no difference.
Allowed range1910 to 2010
Expected return
The average yearly return to assume on the accounts from now on.
How this tool treats itUsed only for future years: this year’s RMD is fixed by last year’s balance. Growth is applied each year before that year’s withdrawal comes out.
Allowed range0% to 20%
Not includedLosses and the order in which good and bad years arrive. A bad year lowers the next year’s RMD, because the RMD follows the balance.
Wait until April 1 to take my first RMD
On to see what happens if you take your first RMD in the next year, by April 1.
How this tool treats itYour first RMD can wait until April 1 of the following year. Every later RMD is due by December 31. If you wait, two RMDs fall in the same year, and the second is figured on a balance the first has not yet reduced.
Not includedThe tax on two RMDs in one year, which can push part of your income into a higher bracket.
Given to charity from your IRAs each year (QCD)
What you give, or plan to give, directly from your IRAs to charity each year as a qualified charitable distribution.
Where to find itThe charity’s receipt, or your IRA custodian’s record of the transfer.
How this tool treats itA QCD counts toward your IRA RMD in full. Up to the year’s limit it is also left out of your income. It counts only in years you have an IRA RMD, and the same amount is assumed every year after.
Allowed range$0 to $1,000,000 a year
Not includedQCDs made before your RMD age; a QCD from a SEP or SIMPLE IRA still receiving employer contributions, which counts toward the RMD but is taxable; and IRAs holding after-tax money, where less of a QCD may be tax-free (Form 8606).
Already taken from your IRAs
What you have already withdrawn from your IRAs for this tax year, not counting QCDs.
Where to find itYour IRA statements or the custodian’s account history.
How this tool treats itCount only withdrawals made for this tax year. In the year after a first RMD you delayed to April 1, the April withdrawal was for last year and does not count here. Cents are accepted, so a withdrawal of exactly the RMD leaves $0.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Already taken from your 403(b)s
What you have already withdrawn from your 403(b)s for this tax year.
Where to find itYour 403(b) statements.
How this tool treats itCount only withdrawals made for this tax year. In the year after a first RMD you delayed to April 1, the April withdrawal was for last year and does not count here. Cents are accepted, so a withdrawal of exactly the RMD leaves $0.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Already taken from the plan
What you have already withdrawn from the plan for this tax year.
Where to find itYour plan statements.
How this tool treats itCount only withdrawals made for this tax year. In the year after a first RMD you delayed to April 1, the April withdrawal was for last year and does not count here. Cents are accepted, so a withdrawal of exactly the RMD leaves $0.
Allowed range$0 to $50,000,000
Show future years in today’s dollars
On to see projected balances and RMDs at today’s prices.
How this tool treats itDivides each future year’s figures by 2.5% a year of inflation, counted from the tax year. The tax year’s own RMD does not change.
Questions
When is my first RMD due?
Can I take my whole RMD from one account?
Does a qualified charitable distribution count toward my RMD?
What if my spouse is much younger than me?
I still work. Do I have to take RMDs?
What happens if I miss an RMD?
Do Roth accounts have RMDs?
Where do the divisors come from?
Version history
- September 24, 2026 (version 1.0.0): First version.