Required Minimum Distributions Explained

Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and many employer retirement plans are generally subject to required minimum distribution rules. Roth IRAs do not require lifetime distributions from the original owner, but inherited-account rules are separate.

A designated Roth account in an employer plan no longer requires lifetime RMDs for the original owner under current federal law. Plan documents, rollover timing, beneficiary status, and current IRS guidance still need to be checked for the particular account.

The general owner calculation divides the account's prior December 31 balance by a distribution-period factor from the applicable IRS life-expectancy table. Most owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table. A different table can apply when the sole beneficiary is a spouse more than ten years younger.

The site's calculator uses Uniform Lifetime Table III and the balance and age entered by the visitor. It is an estimate: it does not determine the correct table, adjust an official year-end balance, combine accounts, or decide whether an exception applies.

The first RMD can generally be delayed until April 1 of the year after the applicable starting year. Later RMDs are generally due by December 31. Delaying the first one can therefore place the first and second taxable distributions in the same calendar year.

That timing can affect marginal tax rates, Medicare income-related premiums, taxation of Social Security benefits, and cash flow. A delayed first payment is an option to evaluate, not an automatic tax benefit.

An owner generally calculates an RMD separately for each IRA but may be able to take the combined IRA amount from one or more IRAs. Employer-plan RMDs generally cannot be combined in the same way and usually must be taken from each plan.

Inherited accounts, annuity contracts, workplace plans, and multiple-beneficiary situations can add rules the simple calculation does not capture. Confirm the custodian's records and the IRS instructions rather than assuming all tax-deferred balances can be pooled.

An RMD determines how much must leave a tax-deferred account. It does not require the after-tax proceeds to be spent; money can generally be reinvested in a taxable account when appropriate. The distribution itself can still create taxable income.

A qualified charitable distribution may satisfy part or all of an eligible IRA owner's RMD when its requirements are met. Direct transfers, annual limits, eligible accounts, and charitable eligibility must be verified before relying on that treatment.