RMD Calculator 2026 — Required Minimum Distributions for UHNW IRA Owners

Not tax advice. Uniform Lifetime Table per IRS Publication 590-B (T.D. 9930, effective 2022). RMD start ages per SECURE 2.0 §107. Consult a tax advisor before acting.

For a $30M+ family with a $5M–$15M traditional IRA, required minimum distributions are not an afterthought — they are a $200,000–$600,000 annual forced taxable income event at the 37% bracket. Left unmanaged, RMDs compound the estate, generate IRMAA surcharges, and hand a 10-year liquidation problem to heirs. This calculator shows your exact distribution schedule and lets you model QCD offsets, Roth conversion trade-offs, and the multi-year tax cost of doing nothing.

How RMDs work

The IRS requires you to take a minimum distribution from traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and most employer retirement plans each year beginning at your required beginning date (RBD) — April 1 of the year after you reach your RMD start age.¹ Every subsequent year, the distribution is due by December 31.

The RMD formula is simple:

RMD = December 31 prior-year IRA balance ÷ Distribution Period

The distribution period comes from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III, IRS Publication 590-B). The table is based on actuarial joint life expectancy of you and a hypothetical beneficiary 10 years younger, updated in 2022 to reflect longer lifespans.² At age 73, your distribution period is 26.5 — meaning you withdraw roughly 3.8% of your IRA balance each year. By age 85, it rises to 6.25%.

SECURE 2.0: the new start ages

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (§107) raised the RMD start age in two steps:³

• Born 1951–1959: RMD start age is 73. First RMD must be taken by April 1 of the year after you turn 73.
• Born 1960 or later: RMD start age is 75. First RMD must be taken by April 1 of the year after you turn 75.

If you reached age 72 before January 1, 2023, you were already taking RMDs under the prior rules (age 72) and continue under the old schedule.

The UHNW math problem

For a family with $10M in traditional IRAs, the numbers are stark:

Table assumes static $10M balance for illustration. Actual balances change with growth and prior RMDs. CA combined rate: 37% federal + 13.3% CA state = 50.3%.

Three compounding problems at the UHNW level:

1. IRMAA surcharges. Each RMD is ordinary income that increases your MAGI. Once your MAGI crosses $218,000 MFJ (2026), you pay IRMAA surcharges on Medicare Part B and Part D. The top tier (above $750K MFJ) adds $974.40/year per person. For most UHNW clients, RMDs alone push MAGI well above the highest IRMAA tier — see our IRMAA Calculator.
2. Estate tax reloading. If RMDs exceed spending needs, the after-tax distribution flows into a taxable estate and grows back into the estate tax base — where it faces 40% again. An IRA is doubly taxed: income tax on distribution + estate tax on the residual. Getting assets out of the IRA early (via Roth conversions) or redirecting RMDs to charity (via QCDs) breaks this cycle.
3. Inherited IRA 10-year liquidation. Under T.D. 10001 (effective 2025), non-spouse beneficiaries inheriting from someone who died after their required beginning date must take annual RMDs plus liquidate the account by December 31 of year 10. A $10M inherited IRA with mandatory annual distributions could force your heirs into the 37% bracket for a decade. See our Inherited IRA RMD Calculator.

5 strategies to reduce RMD burden

1. Roth conversions in the pre-RMD window

Converting traditional IRA dollars to Roth before your RMD start age permanently reduces future RMD exposure. Every dollar converted is a dollar removed from the RMD base — tax-free for you in retirement and income-tax-free for heirs, with no required minimum distributions on the Roth itself.⁴ The optimal window is typically ages 60–72: income is often lower after leaving employment, before Social Security and RMDs begin. Use our Roth Conversion Calculator to model the break-even.

2. Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

QCDs satisfy the RMD requirement directly — and are excluded from income. See the QCD section below for detail.

3. Still-working exception for 401(k) plans

If you own less than 5% of the employer and are still employed, you can defer RMDs from your current employer's 401(k) — though not from IRAs or plans from prior employers — until April 1 of the year after you retire. For UHNW executives still at a company past age 73, rolling prior-employer IRA assets into the current-employer 401(k) (if the plan allows) extends this deferral.

4. Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs)

Naming a CRT as your IRA beneficiary (or contributing IRA distributions to a CRT during your lifetime) can spread income tax over the trust's income beneficiary's lifetime, avoiding the lump-sum recognition of the 10-year rule. Complex — requires careful drafting. See our CRT Calculator.

5. Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) election

If you have appreciated employer stock in a 401(k), an NUA distribution reduces the plan balance subject to RMDs while converting the appreciation to long-term capital gain treatment. See our NUA Calculator.

QCD: the best RMD offset for charitable UHNW families

A Qualified Charitable Distribution is a direct transfer from your IRA to a qualified charity — not routed through you — that counts as your RMD but is excluded from your gross income.⁵

2026 QCD limit: $111,000 per person ($222,000 for a married couple with separate IRAs), indexed for inflation from 2024 per SECURE 2.0.⁵

The tax math at UHNW scale is compelling:

• At 37% federal: a $111,000 QCD eliminates $41,070 in federal income tax vs. taking the RMD in cash and donating it.
• In California (50.3% combined): the same QCD eliminates $55,833 in combined tax.
• Unlike a standard charitable deduction, a QCD works even if you take the standard deduction — it directly reduces AGI rather than being an itemized deduction.
• A QCD reduces MAGI, potentially dropping you below an IRMAA tier threshold. The 2026 MFJ IRMAA tiers begin at $218,000 — if a QCD keeps you below a cliff, the Medicare savings add to the benefit.

A one-time exception: SECURE 2.0 allows a single-lifetime QCD of up to $55,000 to fund a Charitable Remainder Trust or Charitable Gift Annuity (in addition to the annual $111,000 limit). See our CRT Calculator or Charitable Gift Annuity Calculator.

Aggregation and 401(k) rules

Traditional IRA aggregation. If you own multiple traditional IRAs (including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs), you can aggregate all balances to calculate a single total RMD, then take that amount from any one or combination of your IRAs. This gives you tax-lot optimization flexibility — take the RMD from whichever account has the lowest-cost assets to sell, or from the account you want to rebalance away from.

401(k) and other DC plans are separate. Each 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) plan account must satisfy its own RMD separately from your IRA calculation. You cannot combine a 401(k) RMD with an IRA RMD or take the 401(k)'s RMD from an IRA.

403(b) aggregation exception. Multiple 403(b) accounts can be aggregated for RMD purposes — similar to the IRA rule.

Roth 401(k) accounts. SECURE 2.0 §325 (effective 2024) eliminated lifetime RMDs for Roth accounts held inside designated Roth 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) plans. You no longer need to roll Roth 401(k) balances to a Roth IRA to avoid RMDs.⁴

Costly RMD mistakes at the UHNW level

• Taking the first RMD in year two. The April 1 delay on the first RMD bunches two RMDs into one year — usually the worst outcome for IRMAA, tax brackets, and estate planning. Take year one's RMD by December 31 of the year you reach your RMD start age.
• Ignoring the spousal inherited IRA option. A surviving spouse has a unique election — treat the inherited IRA as their own, resetting RMDs based on their age and restarting the clock. This delays RMDs for a younger spouse and is often the largest single planning decision in a UHNW estate.
• Naming the estate as beneficiary. Without a designated beneficiary, the 10-year rule doesn't apply and the IRA must be distributed within 5 years (if you die before your RBD) or under your own remaining life expectancy schedule (if after your RBD). Proper beneficiary designation — individual, see-through trust, or charitable — is mandatory. See our Beneficiary Designation guide.
• Missing the QCD to charity-instead-of-DAF distinction. Many UHNW clients discover, after giving QCD instructions, that their IRA was distributed to a donor-advised fund — which invalidates QCD status. The check must go directly to an operating charity. Verify with your custodian.
• Waiting to plan until after RMD age. The Roth conversion window before RMD age is finite. Once RMDs begin, every conversion adds to an income year already burdened with forced distributions. Most Roth conversion opportunity for a 60-year-old looks very different than for a 75-year-old receiving $500K/year in mandatory distributions.