ReckonBoxWhat you must withdraw, and when
A required minimum distribution is the amount you must take from a tax-deferred retirement account each year once you reach the required age, which is now 73. The account grew untaxed, so the government eventually makes you draw it down, and the rules changed recently in ways many calculators have not caught up to.
On a $500,000 traditional IRA at age 73, the required distribution is $18,868. That is the balance divided by 26.5, the distribution period for age 73 in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. Miss it and the penalty is 25% of the shortfall, or 10% if you fix it in time.
The age is 73, not 72 or 70 and a half
Required minimum distributions begin at age 73 under the SECURE 2.0 Act, and rise to 75 for anyone turning 73 after 2032. The old ages of 72 and 70 and a half no longer apply to people reaching that point now, yet they still show up everywhere.
The live search summary for this very topic told me RMDs start "at age 72, or 70 and a half if born before 7/1/1949." That was true once and is now wrong for current retirees. SECURE 2.0 moved the start to 73 for anyone turning 72 after the end of 2022, and sets 75 for those turning 73 after 2032. Getting the age wrong by a year can trigger a penalty on a distribution you did not know was due.
The penalty the field mostly leaves out
The excise tax for missing an RMD is 25% of the amount you failed to withdraw, cut to 10% if you correct it within two years, down from the old 50%. Most RMD calculators compute the withdrawal and stop, saying nothing about what a missed one costs.
On the default $18,868 RMD, missing it entirely is a $4,717 penalty, or $1,887 if you take the shortfall and report it within the correction window. For a 2026 RMD, that window runs to the end of 2028. The penalty is on top of the ordinary income tax you still owe on the distribution itself.
Why the RMD climbs every year
The required distribution generally rises year after year, because the Uniform Lifetime Table divisor shrinks faster than a typical balance falls. Drawing the money down does not shrink the requirement; the arithmetic pushes it up.
At 73 the divisor is 26.5, at 80 it is 20.2, and at 90 it is 12.2, so the same balance yields a larger required share each year. Projected on the default $500,000 at a 5% return, the RMD goes from $18,868 at 73 to $19,811 at 74 and keeps climbing. This calculator shows the full path, where the others show a single year:
| Age | Divisor | RMD | Year-end balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | $18,868 | $505,189 |
| 74 | 25.5 | $19,811 | $509,646 |
| 75 | 24.6 | $20,717 | $513,375 |
Where the numbers come from
The RMD is your account balance on December 31 of the prior year divided by the distribution period for your age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, which has been unchanged since 2022. The projection grows the remaining balance at the return you enter, then applies the next year smaller divisor, so the year-by-year figures track how the requirement moves. The penalties apply the 25% and 10% SECURE 2.0 rates to the current RMD.
A different table applies if your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than ten years younger, which this does not model, so treat the standard case as the default.
What this does not decide for you
This computes the required minimum on a single balance, not your whole withdrawal strategy. It does not add up multiple accounts, apply the different aggregation rules for IRAs versus 401(k)s, or model the income tax the distribution triggers, which is the cost most retirees actually feel. Roth IRAs never require a distribution, and Roth 401(k)s stopped requiring one in 2024, so leave those out of the balance you enter.
None of this is advice on how or when to draw down your accounts. For a plan around your own tax situation, a CPA or a qualified financial adviser is the right call.
Frequently asked questions
What age do RMDs start? Required minimum distributions begin at age 73 under the SECURE 2.0 Act, for anyone turning 72 after December 31, 2022. The start age rises to 75 for those turning 73 after December 31, 2032. Older tools and search snippets still show 72 or 70 and a half, which no longer applies to people reaching that age now.
How is an RMD calculated? An RMD is your prior year December 31 account balance divided by the distribution period for your age from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At age 73 the divisor is 26.5, so a $500,000 balance requires a $18,868 withdrawal. The divisor falls each year, which is why the RMD generally rises even as the balance is drawn down.
What is the penalty for missing an RMD? The SECURE 2.0 Act cut the missed-RMD excise tax from 50% to 25% of the shortfall, and to 10% if you correct it within the two-year window. On a $18,868 RMD, that is a $4,717 penalty, or $1,887 if corrected in time. The correction window for a missed 2026 RMD runs to the end of 2028.
Do Roth accounts have RMDs? No. Roth IRAs have never required distributions during the owner life, and under the SECURE 2.0 Act Roth 401(k)s stopped requiring them starting in 2024. RMDs apply to traditional, tax-deferred accounts such as traditional IRAs and traditional 401(k)s, where the balance has never been taxed.
Why does my RMD go up every year? Because the Uniform Lifetime Table divisor shrinks faster than a typical balance falls. At 73 the divisor is 26.5, at 80 it is 20.2, and at 90 it is 12.2, so the same balance yields a larger required percentage each year. On the default $500,000 at a 5% return, the RMD rises from $18,868 at 73 to $19,811 at 74 and beyond.
Which accounts count toward my RMD? Traditional IRAs and employer plans like traditional 401(k)s and 403(b)s all carry RMDs. You add up the balances by account type, and the rules on aggregating across accounts differ between IRAs and 401(k)s. This tool computes the RMD on a single balance you enter, so total your like accounts before entering the figure.