If you reached age 73 in 2026 or are already taking distributions, the IRS Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for the year is computed from one of three life-expectancy tables published in Treasury Regulation §1.401(a)(9)-9 and reproduced in IRS Publication 590-B. The table you use depends on the account type, your beneficiary structure, and whether the original owner has died.
The formula is mechanical:
RMD = Prior-year-end account balance ÷ Distribution period from the applicable table
This guide reproduces the three tables, explains which applies in which situation, and walks through three full worked examples. All figures match the divisors used in the RMD Calculator.
1. Uniform Lifetime Table (the one most people use)
The Uniform Lifetime Table is the default table for any account owner who has reached their Required Beginning Date and whose sole beneficiary is not a spouse more than 10 years younger. It applies to Traditional IRAs, SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and employer plans (401(k), 403(b), 457(b), profit-sharing) — though employer plans allow a one-time “still working” exception explained below.
| Age | Period | Age | Period | Age | Period | Age | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 26.5 | 81 | 19.4 | 89 | 12.9 | 97 | 7.8 |
| 74 | 25.5 | 82 | 18.5 | 90 | 12.2 | 98 | 7.3 |
| 75 | 24.6 | 83 | 17.7 | 91 | 11.5 | 99 | 6.8 |
| 76 | 23.7 | 84 | 16.8 | 92 | 10.8 | 100 | 6.4 |
| 77 | 22.9 | 85 | 16.0 | 93 | 10.1 | 105 | 4.6 |
| 78 | 22.0 | 86 | 15.2 | 94 | 9.5 | 110 | 3.5 |
| 79 | 21.1 | 87 | 14.4 | 95 | 8.9 | 115 | 2.9 |
| 80 | 20.2 | 88 | 13.7 | 96 | 8.4 | 120 | 2.0 |
The table is reset every decade or so by Treasury based on updated mortality data. The current divisors took effect 1 January 2022 (T.D. 9930) and remain in force through 2026.
Worked example: age 75, $750,000 balance
Joan turns 75 on 14 March 2026. Her aggregated Traditional IRA balance on 31 December 2025 was $750,000. She has named her adult children as beneficiaries, so the Uniform Lifetime Table applies.
2026 RMD = $750,000 ÷ 24.6 = $30,488
Joan must withdraw at least $30,488 from her Traditional IRA(s) by 31 December 2026. If she takes nothing, the IRS imposes a 25% excise tax on the shortfall under IRC §4974(a), reducible to 10% if corrected within the two-year window.
2. Joint and Last Survivor Table (sole-beneficiary spouse >10y younger)
If your sole designated beneficiary is your spouse and that spouse is more than 10 years younger than you, the Joint and Last Survivor Table replaces the Uniform Lifetime Table. The substitution lowers your RMD because the distribution period is longer when measured against two lives, the younger of which has many more expected years.
The table is two-dimensional: one axis for the owner’s age, the other for the spouse’s age. A few representative cells (selected from the calc’s joint-table lookup) to illustrate the gap:
| Owner / Spouse age | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 80 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 31.1 | 28.3 | 26.5 (uniform) | – | – | – |
| 75 | 30.0 | 27.1 | 25.0 | 24.6 (uniform) | – | – |
| 80 | 26.6 | 23.0 | 20.6 | 20.2 (uniform) | – | – |
| 85 | 22.6 | 19.8 | 17.7 | 16.8 | 15.6 | 16.0 (uniform) |
| 90 | – | – | 15.6 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 11.9 |
For an owner aged 73 with a spouse 18 years younger (age 55), the period is 31.1 — a 17% larger divisor than the 26.5 default. On a $750,000 balance, that drops the RMD from $28,302 to $24,116, deferring about $4,200 of taxable income.
Eligibility detail
The age gap is measured by the difference in calendar years of birth (not exact birthdays), and the spouse must be the sole beneficiary for the entire calendar year. A spouse named alongside any other beneficiary — including a trust or charity — disqualifies the joint table even if the spouse will inherit 99% of the account. If the spouse beneficiary changes mid-year, the table that applies on 1 January governs the entire year’s RMD.
3. Single Life Expectancy Table (inherited IRAs)
Non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited an IRA before 1 January 2020, and certain eligible designated beneficiaries (disabled, chronically ill, minor children of the decedent, beneficiaries not more than 10 years younger than the decedent), continue to stretch distributions over their own single life expectancy.
The Single Life Table is also used inside the 10-year rule when the original owner died after their Required Beginning Date — in that case the beneficiary must take annual RMDs during years 1–9 of the 10-year window, calculated from the Single Life Table starting at the beneficiary’s age in the year following the year of death and reducing by one each subsequent year (the “subtract-one” method).
Selected Single Life Table divisors:
| Age | Period | Age | Period | Age | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 60.2 | 50 | 36.2 | 75 | 14.8 |
| 30 | 55.3 | 55 | 31.6 | 80 | 11.2 |
| 35 | 50.5 | 60 | 27.1 | 85 | 8.1 |
| 40 | 45.7 | 65 | 22.9 | 90 | 5.7 |
| 45 | 41.0 | 70 | 18.8 | 95 | 4.0 |
A 50-year-old inheriting from a parent in 2025 (date of death after the parent’s RBD) starts at 36.2 for the 2026 RMD, subtracts one each year, and depletes the account by year 10 in any case.
For the full inherited-IRA mechanics including the 10-year rule, eligible designated beneficiary categories, and the SECURE Act / SECURE 2.0 timeline, see the Inherited IRA Calculator and the dedicated 10-Year Rule guide.
4. Required Beginning Date — when the first RMD is actually due
The 2025 SECURE 2.0 amendments stagger the RMD age by birth year:
- Born 1951 through 1959: first RMD year is the year you turn 73.
- Born 1960 or later: first RMD year is the year you turn 75.
The Required Beginning Date for the first distribution is 1 April of the year following the first RMD year. So if you turn 73 in 2026 (born 1953), your first RMD is the 2026 distribution, payable by 1 April 2027.
Two consequences are widely overlooked:
- Two RMDs in one calendar year. If you take the first RMD between 1 January and 1 April of the year after you turn 73, the second RMD for that same calendar year is still due by 31 December — stacking two years of taxable distribution into one 1040 and potentially pushing into IRMAA brackets. Most retirees take the first RMD in the year they turn 73 (i.e. on the same Dec-31 schedule as every subsequent year) for that reason.
- Still-working exception (employer plans only). If you continue working past 73 for the same employer that sponsors your 401(k), 403(b), or other qualified plan, the RBD for that plan only is deferred to 1 April of the year after you retire. The exception does not apply to IRAs, to plans from former employers, or to 5%+ owners.
5. Aggregation rules — which accounts can be combined
How RMDs from multiple accounts are aggregated depends entirely on account type:
- Traditional IRAs (incl. SEP and SIMPLE): Compute each account’s RMD separately, then take the total from any one or several Traditional IRAs. Aggregation makes IRA RMDs administratively simple.
- 403(b) plans: Same as IRAs — separate computation per contract, take from any 403(b).
- 401(k) and other qualified plans: No aggregation. RMD from each 401(k) must be taken from that specific plan. You cannot take a 401(k) RMD from an IRA, or from a different 401(k).
- Inherited IRAs: Cannot be aggregated with your own IRAs or with inherited IRAs from a different decedent. Inherited IRAs from the same decedent may be aggregated.
- Roth IRAs: No lifetime RMDs for the original owner. Beneficiaries face inherited-IRA RMDs but with the qualified-distribution rule, the entire balance is tax-free if the 5-year holding period from the original owner’s first contribution year is met.
6. Penalty for missing an RMD — IRC §4974 after SECURE 2.0
The historical 50% excise tax on the shortfall was reduced by SECURE 2.0 effective for tax years after 31 December 2022:
- Base penalty: 25% of the shortfall.
- Reduced penalty: 10% if the shortfall is “corrected” — the missed amount is distributed, and a Form 5329 is filed reporting the corrective distribution — within a 2-year correction window beginning the day after the missed RMD year ends.
- Waiver: The IRS will generally waive the penalty entirely for a first-time, reasonable-cause shortfall if you take the missed distribution and attach a statement to Form 5329 explaining the cause and remediation.
To request waiver, file Form 5329 with the appropriate line completed, enter “RC” (reasonable cause) and the amount to be waived in the dotted line next to line 54, and attach a letter explaining what went wrong.
7. Common RMD mistakes
- Forgetting an inherited IRA when calculating your own RMD aggregate — the IRS treats them as separate buckets, and a missed inherited-IRA distribution carries the same 25%/10% penalty.
- Withdrawing the RMD before age 59½ from an IRA. The RMD itself is not subject to the 10% early-withdrawal penalty regardless of age, but most people who must take RMDs are already past 59½.
- Converting an RMD to a Roth IRA. A Required Minimum Distribution cannot be converted to a Roth IRA. If you want to convert, the RMD must be taken first; any amount above the RMD can then be converted.
- Missing the Joint Table when eligible. Confirm in writing on the beneficiary form that the spouse is the sole beneficiary — many account custodians default to the Uniform Table unless you specifically request the joint calculation.
- Withholding too little. RMDs default to 10% federal withholding for IRAs; many retirees discover at filing time that this undershoots their actual bracket. Set withholding to match your marginal rate using IRS Form W-4R.
8. Strategies to reduce taxable RMD income
Three strategies regularly come up at the planning stage:
- Roth conversions before RBD. Converting Traditional IRA balances to Roth in the low-income years between retirement and 73 shifts future taxable RMDs into present-day tax at a likely lower bracket. The Roth Conversion Calculator models the multi-year tradeoff against IRMAA cliffs.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD). Direct transfers from a Traditional IRA to a qualifying 501(c)(3) public charity, up to $108,000 in 2026, satisfy the RMD without being taxable. See the QCD 2026 guide.
- Still-working exception. Delay 401(k) RMDs by remaining employed at the plan-sponsoring employer — useful for the few years between 73 and full retirement. Note this is a delay, not an exemption; the RMDs come due once you retire.