RMD Calculator

What a Required Minimum Distribution actually is

A Required Minimum Distribution, or RMD, is the amount the IRS forces you to withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once you reach a certain age. The rule exists because the money in a traditional IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or similar plan has never been taxed. The government is not willing to let those balances sit forever, so it defines a schedule for pulling the money out and taxing it as ordinary income.

The calculation itself is straightforward. Take the account balance as of December 31 of the prior year, look up the divisor for your age on the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, and divide. That result is the minimum you must take out during the current calendar year. Nothing stops you from taking more.

SECURE 2.0 changed the begin age

The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed at the end of 2022, moved the RMD begin age to 73 for anyone who reaches that age on or after January 1, 2023. Starting in 2033, the begin age moves again, this time to 75. If you turned 72 before 2023 you were already on the old schedule. This calculator uses the current age 73 begin.

The penalty for missing one is real, but softer than it used to be

Missing an RMD triggers an excise tax on the amount you failed to withdraw. SECURE 2.0 dropped that penalty from 50% to 25%, and to 10% if the shortfall is corrected within the correction window and the taxpayer files Form 5329. Even so, the penalty is meaningful enough that most planners set a calendar reminder for early December.

Qualified Charitable Distributions are the quiet lever

If you are age 70½ or older and charitably inclined, a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD, is one of the cleanest tools in the code. Money moves directly from your IRA to a qualified public charity. It counts against your RMD, and it is excluded from adjusted gross income. Excluding it from AGI can lower Medicare IRMAA surcharges, reduce the taxability of Social Security, and keep you under thresholds tied to other deductions.

What the calculator is not

This tool uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, which applies to most account owners. A different Joint Life Table applies when your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than ten years younger. Inherited accounts follow their own rules, which changed materially under SECURE and SECURE 2.0. And your first RMD after reaching the begin age can be delayed to April 1 of the following year, though doing so stacks two RMDs into one tax year.

Use the number here to plan a distribution strategy. Coordinate with a CPA before you actually take the withdrawal, especially in years where a Roth conversion, a QCD, or a large one-time event changes the picture.