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Educational tool — not tax, legal, or financial advice. This calculator provides estimates based on publicly available IRS rules and is intended for informational purposes only. Results are not guaranteed to be accurate, complete, or applicable to your specific situation.

RMD rules are complex, fact-specific, and subject to change. Always consult a qualified CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney, or financial advisor before making any distribution decisions. Failure to take correct RMDs can result in a 25% IRS excise tax on the shortfall. The operators of this site are not tax professionals and accept no liability for decisions made based on these results.

RMD Calculator

Step 1 — Tell us about your situation

I am the

Select the option that best describes your relationship to this account.

Account Tax Treatment

Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s do not require distributions during the original owner's lifetime.

Account Type

Your Year of Birth

Account Balance as of Dec 31 of prior year

Spouse is sole beneficiary AND more than 10 years younger?

If yes, Table II (Joint Life) applies — lowers your RMD.

Did you miss a prior RMD?

Original Account Type

Year You Inherited

Did the original owner take their full RMD in the year they died?

If the owner died before taking their full RMD for the year of death, the beneficiary must take the remaining amount by December 31 of that year.

Your Year of Birth (beneficiary)

Owner's Year of Birth

Your relationship to the deceased owner

Eligible Designated Beneficiaries (spouse, minor child, disabled, close-in-age) may use life expectancy instead of the 10-year rule.

Owner died relative to their Required Beginning Date (RBD)

RBD = April 1 of year after owner turns 73 (or 75 if born 1960+). Affects whether annual RMDs are required under the 10-year rule.

Account Balance as of Dec 31 of prior year

📊

IRS Life Expectancy Factor Lookup

Look up your exact factor from Table I, II, or III — enter birth years for instant results

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Beneficiary Year of Birth

Year First Inherited

Factor is set at beneficiary age in year 1, then decremented by 1 each subsequent year. Enter inheritance year to get the current applicable factor.

Enter birth year(s) above to see your factor

Table I (Single Life Expectancy) — Used by inherited IRA beneficiaries who take annual life expectancy distributions: pre-SECURE Act stretch IRA beneficiaries, Eligible Designated Beneficiaries using the life expectancy method, and non-EDB beneficiaries subject to post-RBD annual RMDs under the 10-year rule. Factor is fixed at beneficiary age in year 1 and reduced by 1.0 each year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about required minimum distributions

What age do I have to start taking RMDs?▾

Under SECURE 2.0, your RMD start age depends on your birth year. Born 1951–1959: RMD start age is 73 (Required Beginning Date is April 1 of the following year). Born 1960 or later: RMD start age is 75. Note: the 1959 birth year has proposed (not final) IRS guidance that could move it to 75 — this calculator currently uses 73. Roth IRAs do not require distributions during the original owner's lifetime.

What is the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs?▾

Under SECURE 1.0 (inherited 2020+), most non-spouse beneficiaries must fully distribute the inherited IRA by December 31 of the 10th year after the owner's death. If the original owner died after their Required Beginning Date, SECURE 2.0 final regulations (effective 2025) also require annual minimum distributions in years 1–9. If the owner died before their RBD, no annual distributions are required — just full distribution by year 10.

Who qualifies as an Eligible Designated Beneficiary (EDB)?▾

EDBs are exempt from the 10-year rule and may use the life expectancy (stretch) method. The five EDB categories are: (1) surviving spouse, (2) minor child of the account owner (until reaching majority, typically age 21, after which the 10-year rule kicks in), (3) disabled individuals per IRC §72(m)(7), (4) chronically ill individuals, and (5) individuals not more than 10 years younger than the deceased owner.

What is the penalty for missing an RMD?▾

The excise tax for an insufficient RMD is 25% of the amount not distributed. This is reduced to 10% if you take the missed distribution and file a correction within the two-year correction window. File Form 5329 with your return to report and pay the excise tax. The IRS has historically waived penalties for first-time errors with reasonable cause — consult a tax professional for penalty abatement.

What IRS tables are used to calculate RMDs?▾

Three tables appear in IRS Publication 590-B. Table I (Single Life Expectancy) is used by most inherited IRA beneficiaries taking annual distributions. Table II (Joint Life) is used only when the original owner's sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger. Table III (Uniform Lifetime Table) is used by all other original account owners. All tables were updated in 2022 to reflect longer life expectancies, resulting in modestly smaller RMDs.

What was the pre-SECURE Act stretch IRA?▾

Before the SECURE Act of 2019, non-spouse beneficiaries could stretch distributions from an inherited IRA over their own life expectancy using Table I. A 40-year-old beneficiary could stretch over ~43 years. The SECURE Act eliminated the stretch for most non-EDB beneficiaries who inherited after December 31, 2019, replacing it with the 10-year rule. Accounts inherited before 2020 are grandfathered under the old stretch rules.

What is a successor beneficiary IRA?▾

A successor beneficiary inherits an IRA from the first beneficiary — meaning the original beneficiary died before fully distributing the account. Successor beneficiaries face the strictest rules: they are never eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs) regardless of their relationship to anyone, they always use the 10-year rule, and the 10-year countdown starts from the first beneficiary's death — not the original owner's. If annual RMDs were required for the first beneficiary (because the original owner died post-RBD), the successor must continue those annual distributions and also fully distribute by year 10.

What is the ghost rule for estate/charity beneficiaries?▾

When a non-individual (estate, charity, non-qualifying trust) inherits an IRA, the ghost rule applies. If the owner died before their RBD: the 5-year rule applies — fully distribute by December 31 of the fifth year after death. If the owner died on or after their RBD: distributions are taken over the owner's remaining life expectancy using Table I — "the ghost" of the owner's life expectancy continues as the divisor. Trust situations require careful legal analysis.

Legal Disclaimer & Disclosures

Please read carefully before using this calculator

⚠ No Professional Relationship — Not Legal, Tax, or Financial Advice

This website and calculator are provided strictly for informational and educational purposes. Nothing on this site constitutes, or should be construed as, tax advice, legal advice, financial advice, investment advice, or any other form of professional advice. No attorney-client, CPA-client, advisor-client, or any other professional relationship is created by your use of this tool.

The operators and publishers of rmd-calculator.net are not licensed attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, financial advisors, or ERISA professionals. This tool applies publicly available IRS rules to user-provided inputs and returns mathematical estimates. It does not review, analyze, or opine on any individual's specific tax situation.

📊 Accuracy, Completeness & Limitations

While we make reasonable efforts to reflect current IRS guidance, results are estimates only and may not be accurate, complete, or current. RMD rules are governed by the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, and IRS guidance — all of which are subject to change, sometimes retroactively. The following factors, among others, are outside the scope of this calculator and may materially affect your actual RMD:

Year-of-death RMD obligations (distributions the deceased owner had not yet taken)
Multiple account aggregation rules for IRAs vs. qualified plans
Qualified plan-specific provisions that may differ from IRA rules
Trust or estate beneficiary "see-through" trust analysis
State and local income tax law
Pending or proposed IRS regulations (including 1959 birth year guidance)
Mid-year account transfers, rollovers, or conversions
IRMAA, Social Security taxation thresholds, and other income-based phase-outs

⚖ Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, the operators of rmd-calculator.net expressly disclaim all liability for any loss, damage, penalty, tax, interest, or other consequence arising from your use of or reliance on this calculator or any information on this website. This includes, without limitation, any IRS excise taxes, penalties, or interest resulting from an incorrect or insufficient required minimum distribution.

By using this tool, you acknowledge and agree that: (1) results are estimates for informational purposes only; (2) you will verify all results with a qualified tax professional before taking any distribution; (3) the site operators are not responsible for decisions you make based on these results; and (4) tax laws change and past accuracy does not guarantee future accuracy.

🔗 Authoritative Sources — Always Verify With Primary Sources

The calculations on this site are based on the following primary IRS sources. We strongly encourage you to review these directly and to consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.

Primary Reference

IRS Publication 590-B

Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements — the definitive IRS guide to RMDs, life expectancy tables, and inherited IRA rules

irs.gov/publications/p590b →

Statutory Authority

IRC §401(a)(9)

Internal Revenue Code section governing required minimum distribution rules for qualified plans and IRAs

law.cornell.edu IRC §401 →

Treasury Regulations

Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)

Treasury Regulations interpreting IRC §401(a)(9) — updated 2022 with new life expectancy tables and 2024 final SECURE 2.0 regulations

eCFR Treas. Reg. →

SECURE Act 1.0

Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019

Introduced the 10-year rule for most non-spouse beneficiaries inheriting after Dec 31, 2019. Pub. L. 116-94.

congress.gov SECURE Act →

SECURE Act 2.0

SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022

Raised RMD start age to 73 (75 for 1960+), reduced excise tax to 25%/10%, eliminated Roth 401(k) RMDs. Pub. L. 117-328, Div. T.

congress.gov SECURE 2.0 →

Final Regulations 2024

T.D. 10001 — SECURE 2.0 Final Regs

IRS final regulations confirming annual RMD requirement for post-RBD deaths under the 10-year rule, effective for distributions in 2025 and later.

federalregister.gov →

Penalty & Correction

IRC §4974 / Form 5329

Governs the 25% excise tax on insufficient RMDs and the 10% corrective rate. Form 5329 is used to report and pay excise taxes.

IRS Form 5329 →

Life Expectancy Tables

Rev. Proc. 2022-32 / T.D. 9930

Updated IRS life expectancy tables (Table I, II, III) effective January 1, 2022, used for all RMD calculations on this site.

federalregister.gov →

📅 Last Updated & Currency of Information

This calculator reflects IRS rules and guidance as of tax year 2026, including the SECURE 2.0 Act final regulations effective for distributions beginning in 2025. IRS rules change — particularly in the fall preceding each tax year. We endeavor to update this tool promptly when material guidance changes, but we cannot guarantee that all information is current at the time of your use.

Items to monitor for future changes: 1959 birth year proposed regulations (could change RMD start age from 73 to 75); any SECURE Act 3.0 legislation; annual IRS cost-of-living adjustments to QCD limits; state law conformity to federal RMD rules.