Required Minimum Distribution Table (IRS Uniform Lifetime)

The IRS required minimum distribution table that most retirees use is the Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III): you divide your account balance on December 31 of last year by the divisor next to your age this year. At 75 the divisor is 24.6, so a $500,000 IRA requires a withdrawal of about $20,325. Below is the full table for ages 72 to 120 and over, taken from IRS Publication 590-B and checked line by line against the Treasury regulation, plus the rules on when RMDs start, the deadlines, and what a missed withdrawal costs.

The Short Answer

• Formula: RMD = account balance on December 31 of last year ÷ the IRS divisor for the age you reach this year.
• Most people use Table III, the Uniform Lifetime Table. The only owners who use a different table are those whose sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger (Table II). Beneficiaries of inherited accounts use Table I.
• Divisors: 26.5 at 73, 24.6 at 75, 20.2 at 80, 16.0 at 85, 12.2 at 90, down to 2.0 at 120 and over. The current table has applied since 2022.
• Start age: 73 if you were born 1951 through 1958, 75 if born 1960 or later. For people born in 1959 the statute is ambiguous; proposed IRS regulations would set it at 73.
• Deadline: December 31 each year. The first RMD can wait until April 1 of the following year, but then two RMDs land in the same tax year.
• Penalty: a 25% excise tax on the amount you failed to take, reduced to 10% if you correct it within the correction window.
• Roth IRAs have no RMDs for the original owner, and since 2024 neither do Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b) accounts.

Calculate Your RMD

Enter your account balance as of December 31 of last year and the age you reach this year. The calculator applies the Uniform Lifetime Table below.

The Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III)

This is the complete table, as printed in Appendix B of IRS Publication 590-B and in Treasury Regulation §1.401(a)(9)-9(c). The IRS says it is for unmarried owners, married owners whose spouses are not more than 10 years younger, and married owners whose spouses are not the sole beneficiary. Use the age you reach on your birthday in the distribution year, not your age on January 1.

Source: IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Appendix B, Table III; identical to 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(c), Table 2. Applies to distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022.

The table starts at 72 because Treasury wrote it in 2020, before SECURE 2.0 raised the starting age. Nobody whose RMDs begin under today's rules will need the age 72 row, but it stays in the regulation.

As a percentage, the share that must come out starts below 4% and climbs steadily:

Our arithmetic: $100,000 ÷ divisor, rounded to the dollar. The $4,065 figure at age 75 matches the IRS's own example in Publication 590-B.

How to Calculate Your RMD: A Worked Example

The IRS method has three steps, and each account is calculated on its own.

1. Find the balance. Use the account value at the close of business on December 31 of the previous year. For a 2026 RMD, that is the December 31, 2025 statement value.
2. Find the divisor. Look up the age you reach on your birthday in 2026 in Table III (or Table II if your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger).
3. Divide. Balance ÷ divisor = the minimum you must withdraw by December 31, 2026.

Hypothetical example. Linda's traditional IRA was worth $500,000 on December 31, 2025. She turns 75 in 2026. Her husband, the sole beneficiary, is four years younger, so she uses Table III. Her divisor is 24.6, and her 2026 RMD is $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20. She can take it in one lump or in installments, as long as the total reaches $20,325.20 by December 31.

If Linda's husband were instead 11 years younger (she 75, he 64), she would use the Joint and Last Survivor table, where the divisor is 25.3, and her RMD would fall to $19,762.85. Withdrawing more than the minimum is always allowed, but the IRS gives no credit for the extra toward future years.

The RMD is taxed as ordinary income, except for any after-tax basis. Our retirement withdrawal calculator models the rest of the drawdown, and the 2026 tax brackets show the rate on the extra income.

Which IRS Table Do You Use?

Publication 590-B has three tables. Which one applies depends on who owns the account and who the beneficiary is:

Marital status is fixed on January 1. If your spouse dies or you divorce during the year, you keep using the same table for that year, and the change takes effect the following year.

When RMDs Start: Age 73 or 75

SECURE 2.0 (section 107) raised the starting age, which the law calls the "applicable age." The final regulations set it by birth date:

Your First RMD and the Two-in-One-Year Trap

Every RMD is due by December 31 of its year, with one exception. Your first RMD, for the year you reach your RMD age, can be delayed until April 1 of the following year (your "required beginning date"). The second RMD is still due by December 31 of that same following year.

Hypothetical example. Someone born in 1953 turns 73 in 2026. Their 2026 RMD can wait until April 1, 2027, but their 2027 RMD is due by December 31, 2027. Delaying puts two taxable withdrawals into 2027, which can push income into a higher bracket and can also raise income-based Medicare premiums in a later year. Run the numbers both ways before choosing to delay.

For someone born in 1960, the first RMD year is 2035, with an April 1, 2036 deadline for that first withdrawal.

Missed an RMD? The 25% and 10% Excise Tax

The penalty used to be 50%. SECURE 2.0 (section 302) cut it to 25% of the amount you should have withdrawn and did not. It drops to 10% if, during the "correction window," you take out the missed amount and file a return reporting the tax. The window closes at the earliest of three dates: when the IRS mails a deficiency notice, when the tax is assessed, or the last day of the second tax year after the year the tax was imposed.

Using the $20,325 example: missing it entirely would cost about $5,081 at 25%, or about $2,033 at 10% if corrected in time, on top of the regular income tax once you do withdraw it.

The IRS can also waive the tax if the shortfall came from reasonable error and you are fixing it. Report the tax, or request the waiver with a letter of explanation, on Form 5329. Your custodian may calculate the RMD, but the IRS holds the account owner responsible for taking the right amount.

Several Accounts: What Can Be Combined

You always calculate an RMD for each account separately. Whether you can then withdraw the total from just one account depends on the account type:

• Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs: add up the separate RMDs and take the total from any one or more of your IRAs.
• 403(b) contracts: same idea. Total the RMDs and take them from any one or more of your 403(b)s. You cannot mix: an IRA withdrawal does not satisfy a 403(b) RMD, or the other way round.
• 401(k) and 457(b) plans: no combining. Each plan's RMD must come out of that plan.
• Inherited IRAs are kept separate from IRAs you own. Inherited IRAs from the same person can be combined with each other.

Federal employees: the Thrift Savings Plan is an employer plan, so its RMD is figured and paid separately from any IRA. Our TSP vs 401(k) vs IRA comparison covers how the accounts differ.

Who Is Exempt: Still Working and Roth Money

Still working. For an employer plan such as a 401(k), 403(b) or the TSP (contribution rules on our 2026 401(k) limits page), your required beginning date is April 1 after the later of the year you reach your RMD age or the year you retire from the employer that sponsors the plan. So if you are 74 and still on the payroll, that employer's plan can wait. Three limits apply:

• It does not apply if you own more than 5% of the business sponsoring the plan.
• It covers only the plan of your current employer. Old 401(k)s from previous jobs still require RMDs.
• It never applies to IRAs, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Also, a plan is allowed to require RMDs at the applicable age for everyone, so check your plan document.

Roth IRAs. The original owner never has to take RMDs from a Roth IRA. Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) balances (designated Roth accounts) have also been exempt during the owner's life since 2024, under SECURE 2.0 section 325. Beneficiaries of Roth accounts do face distribution rules. This is one reason some retirees convert before RMDs begin; our traditional vs Roth IRA guide weighs the trade-off, and the backdoor Roth guide covers conversions for higher earners.

Using a QCD to Satisfy Your RMD

A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a transfer made directly from your IRA trustee to an eligible charity. You must be at least 70½ on the date of the transfer. A QCD counts toward your RMD, but it is excluded from your income.

• 2026 limit: $111,000 per person, up from $108,000 in 2025 (IRS Notice 2025-67). A married couple filing jointly can each give up to the limit from their own IRAs.
• A one-time QCD to a split-interest entity (a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity) is capped at $55,000 for 2026.
• QCDs are not allowed from an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA, and you cannot also deduct the gift as a charitable contribution.

Hypothetical example. Linda, with her $20,325.20 RMD, has her custodian send $10,000 straight to her church. That $10,000 satisfies part of the RMD and stays out of her adjusted gross income; only the remaining $10,325.20 she withdraws is taxable. For anyone who takes the standard deduction, and so gets no write-off for ordinary gifts, a QCD is the way charitable giving still lowers the tax bill.

Inherited IRAs Use a Different Table

If you inherited the account, Table III usually does not apply to you. Most non-spouse beneficiaries of owners who died in 2020 or later must empty the account within 10 years, and some must also take annual withdrawals figured from the Single Life Table (Table I), which produces much larger RMDs: a 75-year-old beneficiary's divisor is 14.8, against 24.6 for a 75-year-old owner. A surviving spouse who treats the IRA as their own uses Table III. Our inherited IRA guide covers the 10-year rule, who qualifies for the exceptions and how to read Table I.

Sources & Methodology

• IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements, Appendix B (Tables I, II and III), the required beginning date, the excise tax on excess accumulations, aggregation of IRAs, Roth IRA rules and QCDs.
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9, the regulatory life expectancy and Uniform Lifetime tables, adopted by T.D. 9930 and applicable from 2022.
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2, applicable age by birth date, the still-working rule and the 5% owner exception.
• Proposed regulations, Required Minimum Distributions, 89 FR 58644 (July 19, 2024), for the applicable age of people born in 1959.
• Public Law 117-328 (SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022), sections 107 (RMD age), 302 (excise tax) and 325 (designated Roth accounts).
• IRS Notice 2025-67, for the 2026 QCD limits.
• IRS Retirement Plan and IRA RMD FAQs, for aggregation by plan type, the first-RMD deadline and the penalty waiver.

Method notes. We transcribed Table III from Publication 590-B and compared all 49 rows against the regulation; they match exactly. Dollar figures in the examples are our own arithmetic using IRS divisors. Examples involving named people are hypothetical. Publication 590-B is the edition for 2025 returns, which includes the 2026 RMD examples; the IRS has not changed the tables since 2022.

This article is for general information and is not financial or tax advice. Figures and rules are from the IRS, the Treasury regulations and the SECURE 2.0 Act, checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-04. Your plan's terms, your beneficiary designations and your full tax picture can change the answer, so confirm your RMD with your custodian or a tax professional before relying on it.

FAQ

What is the RMD divisor at age 73?
26.5, from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. A $300,000 IRA would need a withdrawal of $300,000 ÷ 26.5 = about $11,321 for the year you turn 73.

Is the RMD age 73 or 75?
73 if you were born from 1951 through 1958, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. For 1959 births the law is ambiguous; IRS proposed regulations would make it 73, but they have not been finalized.

Can I take my RMD from just one IRA?
Yes, if all the accounts are IRAs you own. Calculate each IRA's RMD, add them, and withdraw the total from any one or more of them. The same works among 403(b) contracts, but not for 401(k) or 457(b) plans, which must each pay their own RMD.

What happens if I miss an RMD?
You owe a 25% excise tax on the amount not withdrawn, reduced to 10% if you take the missed amount and file a return reporting the tax within the correction window. File Form 5329, and if the miss was a reasonable error, attach a letter asking the IRS to waive the tax.

Do Roth IRAs have required minimum distributions?
Not for the original owner. Since 2024, Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts are also exempt while the owner is alive. Beneficiaries who inherit Roth accounts do have distribution rules.

Can a charitable donation count toward my RMD?
Yes, through a qualified charitable distribution sent directly from your IRA to a charity once you are 70½ or older. The 2026 limit is $111,000 per person, and the amount is excluded from your income.

Can I roll over or convert my RMD to a Roth IRA?
No. The IRS does not allow RMD amounts to be rolled over. You can convert additional money to a Roth in the same year, but only after the RMD for that year has been taken.

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