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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lets you put money into a traditional IRA and defer taxes on your contribution and any investment gains all through your career. But this situation doesn’t last forever. Eventually, you have to take out minimum amounts annually, known as required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from your account once you reach age 73. RMDs also apply to employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans.
Technically, that means the RMD must start being withdrawn no later than April 1 following the year you reach that age.
In late 2022, Congress passed legislation that raised the age you have to start taking RMDs from 72 to 73 years old starting in 2023. This means that if you turned 72 in 2022, you’ll need to take your first RMD by April 1, 2023 and will need to make another one by the end of 2023. If you turn 72 in 2023, you won’t have to take an RMD until the 2024 tax year (when you turn 73), which will be due by April 1, 2025.
How much do you need to withdraw? The exact distribution amount changes from year to year and is based on your life expectancy. It is calculated by dividing an account’s year-end value by the estimated remaining years of your lifetime, in a table provided by the IRS.
The table shown below is the Uniform Lifetime Table, the most commonly used of three life-expectancy charts that help retirement account holders figure mandatory distributions. The IRA has other tables for beneficiaries of retirement funds and account holders who have much younger spouses.
| Age of retiree | Distribution period (in years) | Age of retiree | Distribution period (in years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | |||
| 72 | 27.4 | 97 | 7.8 |
| 73 | 26.5 | 98 | 7.3 |
| 74 | 25.5 | 99 | 6.8 |
| 75 | 24.6 | 100 | 6.4 |
| 76 | 23.7 | 101 | 6.0 |
| 77 | 22.9 | 102 | 5.6 |
| 78 | 22.0 | 103 | 5.2 |
| 79 | 21.1 | 104 | 4.9 |
| 80 | 20.2 | 105 | 4.6 |
| 81 | 19.4 | 106 | 4.3 |
| 82 | 18.5 | 107 | 4.1 |
| 83 | 17.7 | 108 | 3.9 |
| 84 | 16.8 | 109 | 3.7 |
| 85 | 16.0 | 110 | 3.5 |
| 86 | 15.2 | 111 | 3.4 |
| 87 | 14.4 | 112 | 3.3 |
| 88 | 13.7 | 113 | 3.1 |
| 89 | 12.9 | 114 | 3.0 |
| 90 | 12.2 | 115 | 2.9 |
| 91 | 11.5 | 116 | 2.8 |
| 92 | 10.8 | 117 | 2.7 |
| 93 | 10.1 | 118 | 2.5 |
| 94 | 9.5 | 119 | 2.3 |
| 95 | 8.9 | 120 and older | 2.0 |
| 96 | 8.4 | ||
To calculate your required minimum distribution, simply divide the year-end value of your IRA or other applicable retirement account (such as a traditional 401(k)) by the distribution period value that matches your age on Dec. 31st each year. Every age beginning at 72 has a corresponding distribution period, so you must calculate your RMD every year.
For example, Joe Retiree, who is age 80, a widower and whose IRA was worth $100,000 at the end of last year, would use the Uniform Lifetime Table. It indicates a distribution period of 20.2 years for an 80-year-old. Therefore, Joe must take out at least $4,950.50 this year ($100,000 divided by 20.2).
The distribution period (or life expectancy) also decreases each year, so your RMDs will increase accordingly. The distribution table tries to match the life expectancy of someone with their remaining IRA assets. So as life expectancy declines, the percentage of your assets that must be withdrawn increases.
If you need further help calculating your RMD, you can also use Bankrate’s required minimum distribution calculator.
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 that it eventually gets its cut in a clear timeframe. However, RMDs do not apply to Roth IRAs, because contributions are made with income that has already been taxed.
Keep in mind that it is your responsibility to ensure you take the full RMD amount by the deadline:
If you haven’t withdrawn the full RMD amount by the deadline, any money not withdrawn was historically taxed at 50 percent, but that rate is now 25 percent thanks to new legislation and can decline to 10 percent if the RMD is corrected in a timely manner. 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.
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act 2.0, applies to plans beginning after Dec. 31, 2022. The law extended the start of RMDs beyond age 72 on a gradual basis moving forward:
— Bankrate’s Brian Baker contributed to an update of this story.
