IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) table for 2025 and 2026

You’re allowed to put money into a traditional IRA and defer taxes on your contributions and any investment gains throughout your career. But eventually, you have to take out minimum amounts from your account each year, known as required minimum distributions or RMDs. RMDs also apply to employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans.

RMDs allow the government to tax money that’s been protected in a retirement account, such as a traditional IRA, potentially for decades. After such a long period of compounding, the government wants to be sure it eventually gets its cut.

Generally, you must start withdrawing your RMDs no later than April 1 following the year you reach age 73. (The age at which RMDs start is scheduled to rise to 75 in 2033, for those born on or after 1960.) Keep in mind that if you’re still working at age 73, some 401(k)s and similar workplace retirement plans may let you delay your RMDs until you retire.

How much do you need to withdraw for your RMD?

The exact amount you’re required to withdraw changes each year based on your life expectancy. Your RMD is calculated by dividing your account’s year-end value by the estimated remaining years of your lifetime, based on IRS data.

The table below is the Uniform Lifetime Table, the most commonly used of three life-expectancy charts that help retirement account holders figure their mandatory distributions. The IRS has a separate table for account owners whose spouse is more than 10 years younger and is the sole account beneficiary, and another table for account beneficiaries who aren’t the owner’s spouse.

IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) table for 2025 and 2026

Source: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

How to calculate your RMD

To calculate your required minimum distribution, simply divide the value of your IRA, 401(k) or other retirement account at the end of last year by the distribution period value that matches your age on Dec. 31 this year. Every age beginning at 73 has a corresponding distribution period, so you must calculate your RMD every year.

If you need help calculating your RMD, you can use Bankrate’s required minimum distribution calculator.

Some RMD facts to consider:

• You must take your RMD by April 1 of the year after you turn 73. But if you wait until that deadline, you’ll owe two RMDs in one year. For example, if you turn 73 in 2025 you can wait until April 1, 2026 to take your first RMD, but you’ll also owe your 2026 RMD (based on being age 74) by the end of that year. Both of these distributions will incur income taxes, so it may make sense to pull your first RMD out in 2025.
• RMDs don’t apply to Roth IRAs or Roth 401(k) accounts, because contributions are made with income that has already been taxed.
• The best IRA accounts will figure your RMD on your behalf at the start of the year.

Penalty for missing the RMD deadline

It’s your responsibility to ensure you take the full RMD amount by the deadline:

• The first time you take an RMD, you have until April 1 of the year following the year you turn 73 to do so.
• After that, you generally have until Dec. 31 of the current year to take that year’s RMD.

If you haven’t withdrawn the full RMD amount by the deadline, any money not withdrawn faces a 25% penalty. That drops to 10% if the RMD is corrected within two years. In such cases, the IRA owner must fill out IRS Form 5329. See Part IX of this form for the section regarding the additional tax on excess contributions.

Note that if you feel you’ve missed the deadline for a legitimate reason, you can request a waiver from the IRS. For more information, see the waiver of tax for reasonable cause section of the Form 5329 instructions.