retirement calculator

RMD Calculator

The RMD Calculator estimates a US required minimum distribution from the entered birth year, RMD year, prior December 31 account balance, spouse-beneficiary inputs, and estimated return. It shows the owner and spouse ages used by the app, the distribution period, current-year RMD estimate, projected end balance, projected next-year RMD, missed-RMD penalty exposure, first-RMD text, and the table branch note.

Result

RMD result: Your estimated RMD for 2026 is $12,195.12.
Your age in the RMD year: 75
Spouse age in the RMD year: 73
Distribution period: 24.6
Required minimum distribution: $12,195.12
Projected end balance: $302,804.88
Projected next year RMD: $12,776.58
Standard missed-RMD penalty: $3,048.78
Corrected missed-RMD penalty: $1,219.51
First RMD deadline: First RMD generally starts at age 73 for this birth year.
What this means: Uses the Uniform Lifetime Table because the spouse is not more than ten years younger than the account owner.

Scenario nameNotes

Save this result, then use saved scenarios to switch between assumptions.

Before you calculate

Use this calculator to compare one RMD estimate at a time before checking IRS required-minimum-distribution guidance, Publication 590-B tables, IRS worksheets, Form 5329 instructions, plan documents, a plan administrator, a tax professional, or legal guidance. Use Retirement for broader retirement need and withdrawal estimates, 401K for workplace contribution and withdrawal-cost inputs, Annuity Payout for fixed payout math, and Investment for generic fixed-return balance projection.

Formula summary

The calculator computes ownerAge as max(0, rmdYear - birthYear) and spouseAge as max(0, rmdYear - spouseBirthYear). Its starting-age helper returns 75 for birth years 1960 or later and 73 otherwise. If ownerAge is below that helper age, RMD amount, distribution period, next-year RMD, and missed-RMD penalties are 0, and projected end balance is accountBalance * (1 + estimatedReturnRate / 100). Otherwise the standard path looks up the app's Uniform Lifetime factor, divides accountBalance by that distribution period, projects end balance as max(0, accountBalance * (1 + estimatedReturnRate / 100) - rmdAmount), computes next-year RMD from the next divisor, and estimates missed-RMD exposure as 25 percent and 10 percent of the modeled RMD. If the spouse is the primary beneficiary and more than ten years younger, the current app adds 0.4 years to the Uniform Lifetime divisor for each year beyond the ten-year gap; that is a planning adjustment, not the official IRS Joint Life and Last Survivor Table.

Worked example

Example: standard, no-RMD, and younger-spouse branches

In the default 2026 fixture, birth year 1951, RMD year 2026, prior December 31 balance $300,000, spouse primary beneficiary yes, spouse birth year 1953, and 5 percent estimated return produce owner age 75, spouse age 73, distribution period 24.6, estimated RMD $12,195.12, projected end balance $302,804.88, projected next-year RMD $12,776.58, standard missed-RMD penalty estimate $3,048.78, and corrected penalty estimate $1,219.51. In the not-yet-required fixture, birth year 1970 and RMD year 2043 produce owner age 73, no modeled RMD, and a $520,000 projected end balance from the entered 4 percent return. In the younger-spouse fixture, birth year 1950, spouse birth year 1970, RMD year 2026, and $600,000 balance produce owner age 76, spouse age 56, planning distribution period 27.7, estimated RMD $21,660.65, and projected next-year RMD $22,391.80.

These examples explain the app's mechanics. They are educational estimates from entered assumptions, not IRS determinations, plan-administrator instructions, tax answers, penalty-waiver answers, legal answers, withdrawal recommendations, or personalised retirement advice.

Assumptions

The result is not an official IRS RMD, plan-administrator amount, tax filing answer, distribution instruction, penalty-waiver decision, Form 5329 determination, inherited-account rule, Roth treatment, aggregation answer, withholding estimate, state-tax answer, legal answer, or personalised retirement advice.
The app uses birth-year-only age rather than exact dates of birth. Its starting-age helper does not precisely handle older age-70.5 and age-72 cohorts, April 1 first-year deadlines, December 31 later-year deadlines, or plan-specific workplace timing.
Package fixtures cover the default, not-yet-required, and younger-spouse branches, and internal independent comparator checks cover scoped overlapping outputs. Official IRS tables, worksheets, plan documents, tax authorities, and professional review remain necessary before publishing or acting on RMD table, deadline, correction, account-type, tax, legal, or jurisdiction-specific claims.

Common mistakes to avoid

Entering a current account balance instead of the prior December 31 balance used by the calculator and by IRS RMD worksheets.
Treating the first-RMD text as a complete deadline calendar. The calculator does not calculate exact birthday timing, April 1 first-year deadlines, December 31 later-year deadlines, workplace-plan delay rules, or plan-document exceptions.
Using the younger-spouse branch as an official Table II result. The app currently uses a documented planning adjustment when the spouse is more than ten years younger, so the IRS Joint Life and Last Survivor Table still needs to be checked before a real distribution or filing decision.

Methodology and sources

This calculator is an original implementation based on documented formulas, app-specific assumptions, deterministic fixtures, edge cases, rounding policy tests, and internal validation. It is not copied from a single source.

Outputs are checked with deterministic fixtures, edge cases, rounding policy tests, and internal independent comparator checks where overlapping outputs are available. The result remains an educational estimate, not a quote, approval, tax answer, or personalised advice.

Formula version 2026.05.22-us-rmd-uniform-lifetime. The version marks the calculation logic and validation fixture set used for this estimate.

IRS required minimum distribution guidance, Publication 590-B Appendix B Tables II and III, RMD FAQs, worksheets, comparison chart, Form 5329 instructions, and SECURE 2.0 notices should be used before copy discusses official RMD tables, beginning dates, penalties, corrections, Roth treatment, inherited accounts, aggregation, filing, or tax treatment.
Plan documents or the plan administrator should be used before copy discusses workplace retirement-plan distribution timing, account-specific balances, plan-specific exceptions, or official distribution instructions.

Estimate only

The result is educational and is not financial, tax, legal, lending, investment, or regulated advice. Real provider terms, fees, rates, taxes, and personal circumstances can change the final answer.

Formula and help: read the full rmd calculator methodology notes.