RMD table 2026: IRS Uniform Lifetime Table + RMD calculator

Last reviewed September 2026 · 5 min read

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from tax-deferred retirement accounts — traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and similar employer plans — once you reach a certain age^[2]. Roth IRAs carry no lifetime RMD for the original owner^[2]. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, the start age depends on your birth year: 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later^[3]^[2]. (This page and the simulator both assume the post-2019 SECURE Act rules; if you were born before 1950, your actual start age may be 70½ rather than the 72 shown below — see the note under the table.)

Your very first RMD gets a one-time grace period: instead of being due by December 31 of the year you reach your start age, it can be delayed to April 1 of the following year^[3]^[2]. That grace period is a trap as much as a favor — delay, and you owe two RMDs in that second calendar year (the postponed first one, plus the regular one for that year itself), which can push you into a higher bracket than spreading them out would have. Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of its own year, with no more delaying.

Miss an RMD, or take less than required, and the IRS taxes the shortfall directly: a 25% excise tax under IRC §4974, reduced to 10% if you correct the shortfall — by actually taking the missed distribution — within the statutory correction window^[5]^[2].

The IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (ages 72–120+)

Each year’s RMD is your account balance on December 31 of the prior year, divided by a life-expectancy factor — the “distribution period” — from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III of Publication 590-B, codified at 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9(c))^[1]^[4]. The factor shrinks every year, so the share of the balance you’re forced to withdraw climbs as you age. The table below is read straight from the same constant the simulator uses, so it can’t drift out of sync with the app.

IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III): age, distribution period, and the RMD as a percent of the account balance (1 ÷ distribution period).
Age	Distribution period	% of balance
72	27.4	3.65%
73	26.5	3.77%
74	25.5	3.92%
75	24.6	4.07%
76	23.7	4.22%
77	22.9	4.37%
78	22.0	4.55%
79	21.1	4.74%
80	20.2	4.95%
81	19.4	5.15%
82	18.5	5.41%
83	17.7	5.65%
84	16.8	5.95%
85	16.0	6.25%
86	15.2	6.58%
87	14.4	6.94%
88	13.7	7.30%
89	12.9	7.75%
90	12.2	8.20%
91	11.5	8.70%
92	10.8	9.26%
93	10.1	9.90%
94	9.5	10.53%
95	8.9	11.24%
96	8.4	11.90%
97	7.8	12.82%
98	7.3	13.70%
99	6.8	14.71%
100	6.4	15.63%
101	6.0	16.67%
102	5.6	17.86%
103	5.2	19.23%
104	4.9	20.41%
105	4.6	21.74%
106	4.3	23.26%
107	4.1	24.39%
108	3.9	25.64%
109	3.7	27.03%
110	3.5	28.57%
111	3.4	29.41%
112	3.3	30.30%
113	3.1	32.26%
114	3.0	33.33%
115	2.9	34.48%
116	2.8	35.71%
117	2.7	37.04%
118	2.5	40.00%
119	2.3	43.48%
120	2.0	50.00%

Age 120 and every age after it use the table’s terminal divisor, 2.0^[1] — so the required percentage stops climbing at exactly 50.00% of the balance and never rises further, no matter how long you live.

Note: this page (and the Deorbit Plan simulator) model only the post-2019 SECURE Act start ages (72 for everyone born before 1951, 73 for 1951–1959, and 75 for 1960 or later). If you were born before July 1, 1949, your actual RMD start age under the pre-SECURE-Act rule was 70½, not 72 — so the start age shown for birth years before 1950 is not exact.

When the Joint Life table applies instead

Almost everyone uses the Uniform Lifetime Table above. The one exception: if your spouse is your sole beneficiary for the entire year and is more than 10 years younger than you, the IRS Joint Life and Last Survivor Table applies instead^[4]^[1]. It produces a smaller divisor — and therefore a smaller required distribution — because it’s built around the younger spouse’s longer joint life expectancy. That table runs across two ages at once and isn’t reproduced here; the trigger condition above is the part that matters for most people, since it’s the only case where the default table above doesn’t apply.

Worked example

Someone born in 1951 (RMD start age 73) turning 75 this year, with $500,000 in pre-tax accounts on December 31 of last year, owes $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325 — about 4.07% of the balance — as ordinary taxable income this year^[1]. The calculator below runs the same math for any balance and birth year (age is computed from your birth year, so the two can never disagree).

Quick RMD calculator

Pre-tax balance on December 31 of last yearBirth year

Age in 2026: 75. RMD start age: 73. You are at or past your start age.
$20,325 required this year. $500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325 — about 4.07% of the balance.

Uses the same Uniform Lifetime Table divisor and SECURE 2.0 start-age rule as the Deorbit Plan simulator. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary for the whole year and more than 10 years younger, the (smaller) Joint Life and Last Survivor Table applies instead — not modeled by this quick calculator.

Try it in Deorbit Plan

See what a growing RMD does to your taxes: the simulator applies this exact table and the SECURE 2.0 start ages automatically, year by year, on every simulated path — expand a row in the year-by-year detail table on the Results dashboard to watch RMDs appear and see what they push into ordinary income. For why a large pre-tax balance turns into a growing forced-income problem later in retirement, see the RMD bomb; for the situations that change or delay the rule — inherited accounts, the still-working exception, qualified charitable distributions — see RMD exceptions.

Educational content only — not financial, tax, or investment advice.

See how this plays out with your own numbers. Try it in the simulator →