RMD Calculator
Find your required minimum distribution for 2026 and the next 20 years, and the federal tax each one adds on top of your other income.
At age 73 in 2026, a traditional IRA worth $1,000,000 on December 31, 2025 has a required minimum distribution of $37,736: $1,000,000 divided by 26.5 from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. With $60,000 of other income, a single filer owes about $7,147 of federal tax on it.
RMD on a $1,000,000 IRA by age
| Age in 2026 | IRS divisor | 2026 RMD | Share of balance | Federal tax on it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | $37,736 | 3.8% | $7,147 |
| 75 | 24.6 | $40,650 | 4.1% | $7,827 |
| 80 | 20.2 | $49,505 | 5% | $9,892 |
| 85 | 16.0 | $62,500 | 6.3% | $12,922 |
| 90 | 12.2 | $81,967 | 8.2% | $17,784 |
How an RMD is calculated
Take the combined balance of your traditional IRAs on December 31 of last year and divide it by the IRS divisor for the age you reach this year. At 73 the divisor is 26.5, so $1,000,000 means an RMD of $37,736, about 3.8% of the account. The divisor falls every year, so the share you must take rises: 5% at 80 and 8.2% at 90.
You can take the total from one IRA or spread it across several. A 401(k) is figured separately, and each plan pays its own RMD. If your spouse is your only beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table applies instead and gives a smaller RMD. The calculator uses the Uniform Lifetime Table, so in that case it overstates your RMD.
When RMDs start
Born 1951 through 1959: your first RMD is for the year you turn 73. Born 1960 or later: the year you turn 75. The first one can wait until April 1 of the next year, but that puts two RMDs in one tax year. For someone turning 73 in 2026 with the figures above, waiting stacks $78,912 into 2027 and adds about $2,256 of federal tax across the two years.
The tax is the part to plan
An RMD is ordinary income stacked on top of everything else you earn, so it is taxed at your highest brackets, not your average rate. It can also make more of your Social Security taxable and raise Medicare premiums, which this calculator does not count. Over the next 20 years the example above takes out $1,174,301 in RMDs and pays about $241,884 of federal tax on them.
The years between retirement and your first RMD are often the lowest-income years you will have. Converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth in those years fills the lower brackets on purpose and shrinks every RMD that follows. Price a conversion with the Roth conversion calculator, and read how a conversion counts as income before you size one.