Required minimum distribution from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table
Your RMD is your account balance as of last December 31, divided by the IRS distribution period for your age. At 75 the factor is 24.6, so $500,000 requires a withdrawal of $20,325 this year (4.07% of the balance, about $1,694 a month). RMDs begin at 73 (75 for anyone born in 1960 or later), the deadline is December 31 each year, and the penalty for a shortfall is 25% — cut to 10% if you correct it in time. Roth IRAs are exempt.
| Age | Distribution Period | % of Balance Required | RMD on $500,000 | Age | Distribution Period | % of Balance Required | RMD on $500,000 |
|---|
Source: IRS Publication 590-B, Uniform Lifetime Table, effective for distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. If your sole beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, you use the Joint and Last Survivor Table instead, which produces smaller RMDs. The $500,000 column is RMD = 500,000 ÷ factor.
| MAGI (Single) | MAGI (Married Joint) | Part B Premium (per person/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $106,000 | Up to $212,000 | $185.00 (standard) |
| $106,001 – $133,000 | $212,001 – $266,000 | $259.00 |
| $133,001 – $167,000 | $266,001 – $334,000 | $370.00 |
| $167,001 – $200,000 | $334,001 – $400,000 | $480.90 |
| $200,001 – $500,000 | $400,001 – $750,000 | $591.90 |
| Over $500,000 | Over $750,000 | $628.90 |
IRMAA is set by your MAGI from two years earlier, and RMDs count toward it. For 2026 coverage the thresholds rise to $109,000 single / $218,000 married with a $202.90 standard premium. The top bracket costs a couple about $10,600 a year extra versus standard. The cliffs are hard edges: $1 of MAGI over a line buys the whole surcharge, which is why people plan withdrawals to land just under a bracket.
Congress doesn't want tax-deferred accounts compounding forever, so traditional IRAs and workplace plans force a yearly withdrawal once you hit the RMD age. The withdrawal is taxed as ordinary income, and the amount is set by formula: balance divided by a life-expectancy factor that shrinks as you age.
RMD = prior-year December 31 balance ÷ distribution period from the Uniform Lifetime Table. At 72 the factor is 27.4, at 80 it's 20.2, at 90 it's 12.2. The shrinking factor means the required percentage of your balance climbs every year — roughly 3.6% at 72, 5% at 80, 8.2% at 90.
Enter the age you turn this calendar year and your balance as of December 31 of last year (the custodian statement shows it). The result is this year's required withdrawal. It's per account type aggregated: traditional IRAs can be totaled and the RMD taken from any one of them, but 401(k) RMDs must come from each plan separately.
Maria is 75 and ended last year with $500,000 in her traditional IRA. Her factor is 24.6, so her RMD is 500,000 ÷ 24.6 = $20,325.20, due by December 31. Spread evenly that's $1,693.77 a month. Next year, at 76, the factor drops to 23.7 — if the balance held at $500,000, she'd need $21,097.05.
Now the interaction people miss. That $20,325 lands in her MAGI. If she's single and her other income puts her near the $106,000 IRMAA line, the RMD itself can push her over it, adding $74 a month to Medicare Part B two years later — $888 a year, every year, until MAGI drops back under the bracket. This is exactly why the years before RMDs start matter: filling low-tax brackets with Roth conversions shrinks the future RMD base, since Roth accounts never require distributions. Our Roth conversion timing guide walks through that window year by year.
Divide your account balance as of December 31 of the prior year by the distribution period for your age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At 75 the factor is 24.6, so $500,000 requires a $20,325 withdrawal (500,000 ÷ 24.6). The factor shrinks each year, so the same balance forces out a growing share over time.
73 for people born 1951 through 1959, and 75 for those born in 1960 or later (effective 2033) under the SECURE 2.0 Act. RMDs before 2023 started at 72. You calculate each year's RMD using the age you turn that calendar year.
$20,325.20, which is $500,000 divided by the age-75 distribution period of 24.6. That equals 4.07% of the balance, or about $1,694 a month if you spread it evenly. The custodian's number is official; this is the same table they use.
The excise tax is 25% of the amount you failed to withdraw, cut to 10% if you fix the shortfall within the correction period, generally by taking the missed amount and filing Form 5329 in time. Before SECURE 2.0 it was 50%, one of the harshest penalties in the tax code, so the current version is genuinely more forgiving.
Roth IRAs never require distributions while the owner is alive. Roth 401(k) accounts did require them, but SECURE 2.0 aligned them with Roth IRAs starting in 2024, and you can also roll Roth 401(k) money into a Roth IRA. Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and most 401(k)/403(b) plans all carry RMDs.
Yes, to April 1 of the year after you hit RMD age. The catch: that delay means taking two RMDs in one calendar year, both counted in your income together. That stacked income can push you into a higher tax bracket or over an IRMAA threshold, so most people take the first one in the year it's due.
Yes. RMDs are ordinary income, so they count in the MAGI Medicare uses to set Part B and D surcharges two years later. In 2025, MAGI above $106,000 single or $212,000 married triggers IRMAA; the top bracket more than triples the standard premium. Roth withdrawals don't count, which is one reason people run Roth conversions before RMDs begin.