Retirement planning
RMD Planning Calculator
Estimate a required minimum distribution from a qualified account, see exactly which IRS factor was used, and understand why RMDs matter for income planning.
A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from a pre-tax retirement account once you reach the required age. The arithmetic is simple: take the account's balance on December 31 of the prior year and divide it by a distribution period the IRS publishes for your age.
Under current law, distributions generally begin at age 73. That age has changed more than once in recent years and is scheduled to change again, and which age applies depends on your year of birth, so confirm yours with the IRS or your tax professional rather than with any website.
This calculator shows you the exact factor it used and links to the IRS source, so you can check the number rather than trust it. It also lets you enter your own factor if a different IRS table applies to your situation.
These tools are educational. They are built to help you ask better questions, and they do not replace a personal review with Anthony.
Estimate a required minimum distribution
Enter one account at a time. The calculator shows the factor it used so you can verify it against the IRS table directly. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
Enter your age and prior year-end balance
A required minimum distribution is the prior December 31 balance divided by a distribution period published by the IRS for your age. That is the whole calculation.
This tool shows you which factor it used so you can check it directly against the IRS publication, and lets you override it if your situation calls for a different table.
Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. It stays in your browser.
Why required distributions matter to an income plan
Most people meet required minimum distributions as a compliance chore: a form to sign once a year so the IRS is satisfied. That framing misses the part that actually affects your money.
The distribution is generally taxable income whether or not you need it. Once it begins, the amount is set by a formula rather than by your budget. That has knock-on effects that catch people out.
- It can move you into a higher marginal tax bracket in a year when you had no plans to increase your income.
- It can increase how much of your Social Security benefit is taxable, because that calculation depends on your total income.
- It can trigger income-related surcharges on your Medicare premiums, which are set using a prior year's income.
- It grows as a percentage of the account. The distribution period shrinks every year, so the required share of the balance rises with age.
- It is the reason the years between retiring and the required beginning age are so valuable. That window is often the lowest-tax period of someone's life, and doing nothing with it is a decision too.
Questions worth taking to a tax professional
The arithmetic on this page is straightforward. The decisions around it are not, and most of them are genuinely tax questions rather than planning questions. These are the ones worth raising.
- Should I be drawing down pre-tax accounts before distributions become mandatory, to spread the tax across more years at a lower rate?
- Does a Roth conversion make sense in a low-income year, and what would it cost me now versus save me later?
- If I give to charity anyway, would a qualified charitable distribution satisfy part of the requirement more efficiently than writing a check?
- How does the distribution interact with my Medicare premiums two years from now?
- Which of my accounts can be aggregated, and which have to be satisfied individually?
- What happens to these accounts when they pass to my children, and what does that do to their tax situation?
Common questions
- How is an RMD calculated?
- Divide the account balance as of December 31 of the previous year by the distribution period the IRS publishes for your age. For most account owners that period comes from the Uniform Lifetime Table in IRS Publication 590-B. There is no other math involved: the complexity in this topic is not in the arithmetic, it is in which table applies to you, which accounts are subject to the rule, and what the distribution does to your taxes.
- At what age do RMDs start?
- Under current law they generally begin at age 73, and legislation has that age increasing again in a future year. Because the required beginning age depends on your year of birth and has been changed by more than one act of Congress, this is exactly the kind of detail worth confirming directly with the IRS or your tax professional. This page does not attempt to tell you which age applies to you.
- Which accounts are subject to required minimum distributions?
- Generally traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and most employer plans such as 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans. Roth IRAs are not subject to required distributions during the original owner's lifetime. Some employer plans allow a participant who is still working past the required age to defer distributions from that specific plan. Accounts you inherited follow a separate set of rules entirely.
- Which IRS table should I use?
- Most account owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table, which is what this calculator uses by default. If your sole beneficiary is a spouse who is more than ten years younger than you, the Joint Life and Last Survivor table applies instead and produces a smaller required amount. If you inherited the account, a different table and a different set of rules apply. When a different table applies to you, look up your factor in the IRS publication and enter it in the override field.
- If I have several retirement accounts, do I calculate one RMD or several?
- The amount is calculated per account. From there the rules differ by account type: distributions for multiple IRAs can generally be totaled and then taken from any one of them, while most employer plans require the amount for each plan to come out of that plan. Which rule applies to your accounts is a question for your plan administrator or your tax professional.
- Why do RMDs matter for income planning if I do not need the money?
- Because the withdrawal is generally taxable income whether you need it or not. A required distribution can raise your taxable income, change how much of your Social Security is taxable, and affect Medicare premium surcharges. That is why the years before distributions begin are worth planning through: drawing some income earlier, at a lower rate, can leave you with a smaller mandatory withdrawal later. Whether that makes sense for you is a tax question, and it belongs with your tax professional.
- What happens if I miss a required distribution?
- There is a penalty, and the current penalty structure was changed by recent legislation, including a reduction if the shortfall is corrected promptly. Because the amounts and the correction window have been revised, the IRS is the right source for the current figures rather than a general summary.
Sources
Everything on this page traces back to the IRS. These are the primary documents, and they are the ones to check before you act on any number.
- IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B, Table III (Uniform Lifetime)
The source of the distribution periods used by this calculator. The table displayed on this page reflects the Uniform Lifetime Table as revised effective for distribution years beginning in 2022. Confirm against the current publication before relying on a figure.
- IRS: Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs
The IRS's own answers on which accounts are covered, when distributions must begin, aggregation rules, and penalties.
- IRS: required minimum distributions for IRA beneficiaries
For inherited accounts, which this calculator does not model.
- IRS: retirement topics, required minimum distributions
Overview of the rules for employer plan participants, including the still-working provision.
Important disclosures
- This tool is provided for general education and planning discussion only. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or keep any product.
- The results depend entirely on the numbers and assumptions you enter. Change an assumption and the answer changes. Nothing here is a projection of what will happen, a quote, or a guarantee.
- No product prices, premiums, interest rates, or payout amounts are quoted anywhere on this page. Any figures specific to a product would come from the issuing company in writing, after a personal review.
- This calculator is not tax advice and does not determine your actual required minimum distribution. Only the IRS rules as applied to your specific accounts, ages, beneficiaries, and year of birth do that. Confirm any figure with the IRS or a qualified tax professional before acting on it.
- The distribution periods shown reflect the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table as revised effective for distribution years beginning in 2022. RMD rules, required beginning ages, penalties, and the tables themselves have all been changed by legislation in recent years and can change again. Verify the current rules before you rely on them.
- This tool does not model inherited accounts, the Joint Life and Last Survivor table, multiple-account aggregation, the still-working exception, Roth accounts, or tax withholding.
- Anthony D. Morrison is an independent financial professional licensed in Florida. For advice about your own situation, including tax questions, talk with Anthony and with your own tax professional.
The next step is a conversation, not a purchase
A calculator can show you the shape of the question. It cannot tell you which order to draw from your accounts, when to file for Social Security, or what your plan should do about taxes and healthcare. Anthony's retirement questionnaire is how that review starts. There is no cost and no obligation.
Prefer the phone? 407-942-7689
Keep going
Start here. These work through the questions that come before any product conversation: what income you will have, what it has to cover, and how long your savings need to last.