What is the RMD table for 2026?

By Nicolas StrautPublished October 11, 20265 min read

Key takeaways

The 2026 RMD table is the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, and at age 73 its factor of 26.5 means you'll withdraw 3.77% of your December 31, 2025, balance.¹
The factors have been the same since the IRS updated its tables for 2022, when the age-72 factor rose from 25.6 to 27.4, so a 2024 or 2025 table shows the same numbers as the 2026 one.²
Most account owners use the Uniform Lifetime Table, and only a spouse who is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger moves you to Table II, which gives a smaller RMD. The Tweed RMD Calculator applies the right factor to your own balance.

In this article

What is the RMD table?
RMD table 2026: Uniform Lifetime Table by age
How much is the RMD at each age? 2026 examples by balance
Which RMD table applies to you?
What are the new RMD age tables?
Calculate your 2026 RMD with the Tweed RMD Calculator
Frequently asked questions about the RMD table

The RMD table for 2026 is the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, which gives the factor you divide your December 31, 2025, balance by to find this year's required minimum distribution. At age 73 the factor is 26.5, and it gets smaller every year after that. This page lists every factor from age 72 to 120 and over, with the birth year, share of balance, and RMD per $100,000 for each age.

What is the RMD table?

The RMD table is the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, printed as Table III in Publication 590-B, and your RMD is your prior December 31 balance divided by the factor for the age you reach this year. Unmarried owners use it, and so do married owners unless their spouse is both the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger.

The table covers traditional IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and pre-tax 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) balances. A Roth IRA has no RMDs during the owner's lifetime.

RMD table 2026: Uniform Lifetime Table by age

Find your row by the age you reach by December 31, 2026, or by your birth year in the second column, then divide each account's December 31, 2025, balance by that row's factor.³ Reading down the rows gives your RMD schedule for the years ahead, and the share of balance column is the RMD percentage by age, which rises from 3.77% at 73 to 15.63% at 100.

IRS Uniform Lifetime Table for 2026, with birth year, share of balance, and RMD per $100,000
Age in 2026	Born in	Factor	Share of balance	RMD per $100,000
72	1954	27.4	3.65%	$3,650
73	1953	26.5	3.77%	$3,774
74	1952	25.5	3.92%	$3,922
75	1951	24.6	4.07%	$4,065
76	1950	23.7	4.22%	$4,219
77	1949	22.9	4.37%	$4,367
78	1948	22.0	4.55%	$4,545
79	1947	21.1	4.74%	$4,739
80	1946	20.2	4.95%	$4,950
81	1945	19.4	5.15%	$5,155
82	1944	18.5	5.41%	$5,405
83	1943	17.7	5.65%	$5,650
84	1942	16.8	5.95%	$5,952
85	1941	16.0	6.25%	$6,250
86	1940	15.2	6.58%	$6,579
87	1939	14.4	6.94%	$6,944
88	1938	13.7	7.30%	$7,299
89	1937	12.9	7.75%	$7,752
90	1936	12.2	8.20%	$8,197
91	1935	11.5	8.70%	$8,696
92	1934	10.8	9.26%	$9,259
93	1933	10.1	9.90%	$9,901
94	1932	9.5	10.53%	$10,526
95	1931	8.9	11.24%	$11,236
96	1930	8.4	11.90%	$11,905
97	1929	7.8	12.82%	$12,821
98	1928	7.3	13.70%	$13,699
99	1927	6.8	14.71%	$14,706
100	1926	6.4	15.63%	$15,625
101	1925	6.0	16.67%	$16,667
102	1924	5.6	17.86%	$17,857
103	1923	5.2	19.23%	$19,231
104	1922	4.9	20.41%	$20,408
105	1921	4.6	21.74%	$21,739
106	1920	4.3	23.26%	$23,256
107	1919	4.1	24.39%	$24,390
108	1918	3.9	25.64%	$25,641
109	1917	3.7	27.03%	$27,027
110	1916	3.5	28.57%	$28,571
111	1915	3.4	29.41%	$29,412
112	1914	3.3	30.30%	$30,303
113	1913	3.1	32.26%	$32,258
114	1912	3.0	33.33%	$33,333
115	1911	2.9	34.48%	$34,483
116	1910	2.8	35.71%	$35,714
117	1909	2.7	37.04%	$37,037
118	1908	2.5	40.00%	$40,000
119	1907	2.3	43.48%	$43,478
120 and over	1906 or earlier	2.0	50.00%	$50,000

The IRS table ends with one row for age 120 and over. If you were born in 1954, you turn 72 in 2026 and your first RMD year is 2027, because your RMD age is 73.

How much is the RMD at each age? 2026 examples by balance

The RMD at each age is your balance divided by that age's factor, and the table below runs three common balances through the first RMD ages so you can see the dollar amount for a balance like yours.

2026 RMD by age for three example balances
Age in 2026	Factor	$250,000 balance	$500,000 balance	$1,000,000 balance
73	26.5	$9,434	$18,868	$37,736
75	24.6	$10,163	$20,325	$40,650
80	20.2	$12,376	$24,752	$49,505

An RMD on $500,000 is $18,868 at age 73, $20,325 at 75, and $24,752 at 80. Balances are illustrative inputs and each RMD is rounded to the dollar, so use your own December 31, 2025, balance for each account.

Which RMD table applies to you?

Which RMD table applies to you depends on whether you own the account and, if you're married, on your spouse's age and beneficiary status.

Which IRS RMD table applies, by situation
Your situation	IRS table	What it does to the RMD
Unmarried owner, or spouse not more than 10 years younger, or spouse not the sole beneficiary	Table III, Uniform Lifetime	The factors on this page
Owner whose spouse is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger	Table II, Joint Life and Last Survivor	Larger factor, smaller RMD
Beneficiary of an inherited account	Table I, Single Life Expectancy	Different factors and rules

If your spouse is more than 10 years younger

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account for the whole year and more than 10 years younger than you, you use Table II, which is based on both your ages and gives a smaller RMD.⁴ Both conditions have to hold. The Tweed RMD Calculator asks this question and shows the Table III figure as the most you could owe.

If you inherited the account

If you inherited the account, you use Table I rather than the Uniform Lifetime Table.⁵ Most beneficiaries who aren't the owner's spouse also fall under the inherited IRA 10-year rule, which sets a deadline to empty the account.

What are the new RMD age tables?

The new RMD age tables are the life expectancy tables the IRS adopted for distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Treasury found the old tables overestimated the rate of mortality improvement, so the new ones use current life expectancies, which raised every factor and lowered every RMD.

At age 72, the factor rose from 25.6 to 27.4, so a $100,000 balance now gives an RMD of $3,650 instead of about $3,906. If a table shows 25.6 at age 72, it is the pre-2022 table and gives an RMD that is too high.

Calculate your 2026 RMD with the Tweed RMD Calculator

The Tweed RMD Calculator takes your December 31, 2025, balance, your date of birth, and your account type and returns your 2026 RMD, the factor it used from this table, and a year-by-year projection when you add an expected return. If the RMDs you see here will push you into a higher tax bracket, the Tweed Roth Conversion Calculator models converting in the years before they start.

Frequently asked questions about the RMD table

When is the deadline for my 2026 RMD?

The deadline for your 2026 RMD is December 31, 2026. If 2026 is your first RMD year, you can wait until April 1, 2027, but your 2027 RMD is then also due by December 31, 2027, so two taxable withdrawals land in the same year. The guide to RMD rules covers the exceptions.

How do you calculate an inherited RMD for 2026?

You calculate an inherited RMD for 2026 by dividing the December 31, 2025, balance by a Table I factor, not the Uniform Lifetime Table factor, if you owe yearly withdrawals at all. Whether you do depends on your relationship to the owner and when the owner died, and the Tweed Inherited IRA RMD Calculator works that out.

Can I take more than my RMD?

You can take more than your RMD in any year, and the extra is taxed as ordinary income in the year you withdraw it. Taking more does not reduce next year's RMD, because each year's amount is calculated fresh from the new December 31 balance. The RMD itself cannot be rolled over into another retirement account.

Is there a PDF version of the 2026 RMD table?

A PDF version of the 2026 RMD table is in IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B, which you can download free from irs.gov. The Uniform Lifetime Table is Table III in that appendix, and the 2025 edition of the publication carries the same factors as the table on this page, from age 72 to 120 and over.

Does a 401(k) use the same RMD table as an IRA?

A 401(k) uses the same RMD table as an IRA. Traditional IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457(b) plans all divide the prior December 31 balance by the Uniform Lifetime Table factor. What differs is where the money comes from: you can take the IRA total from any one IRA, and each 401(k) pays its own RMD.

Sources

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/12/2020-24723/updated-life-expectancy-and-distribution-period-tables-used-for-purposes-of-determining-minimum-required-distributions
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/401
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-required-minimum-distributions-rmds

This page lists the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table that account owners use during their lifetime. Inherited accounts use different tables and rules. Figures are for 2026.

Tweed provides educational information, not financial advice. Nicolas Straut is a personal finance writer, not a financial advisor.

Nicolas Straut

Personal finance writer, former Forbes contributor and This Week in Fintech writer. He isn't a financial advisor or a CPA.

nicstraut.com