Inherited IRA RMD Calculator

Answer a few questions about the person who died and the account, and you'll get the rule you are under, this year's required withdrawal, your emptying deadline, and a side-by-side look at taking minimums versus spreading withdrawals level.

Data reviewed: July 2026. Figures here come from published sources and change over time. How we verify

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First, the human part

If you are here, someone left you this money, and the IRS deadlines started running while you were still returning casseroles. There is no version of this page that makes that less strange. The good news is that nothing here needs to be decided this week: the clocks below run on years, not days, and the only truly urgent item (the owner's own final RMD, if they died mid-year without taking it) has a clear rule and your custodian handles the mechanics. Take the time you need. The math will keep.

Which rule you are under

Since the SECURE Act, most non-spouse beneficiaries live under the 10-year rule: the account must be empty by December 31 of the tenth year after death. The 2024 final regulations settled the question everyone argued about: if the owner died on or after their required beginning date (roughly, already 73 and taking RMDs), you must also take annual minimums in years 1 through 9, based on your own single life expectancy. If the owner died before that date, or the account is a Roth, there are no annual minimums: only the year-10 deadline.

The exceptions: eligible designated beneficiaries (the disabled, the chronically ill, anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner, and minor children of the owner until 21) keep the old lifetime stretch. And a surviving spouse has choices nobody else gets, which is why this calculator treats that as a decision to walk through rather than a formula to run.

The formula

Annual RMD = Prior Dec 31 balance ÷ (Factor at your age in the year after death − years elapsed)

The factor comes from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table, locked in once at your age in the year after death, then reduced by one each year. The 10-year deadline is December 31 of the year containing the tenth anniversary of death. Missing an RMD carries a 25% excise tax, reduced to 10% if corrected promptly.

Worked example

A father died in 2022 at 78, already taking RMDs. His daughter, born in 1974, inherited his traditional IRA, worth $500,000 last December 31. Her factor locked at 37.1 (age 49 in 2023) and stands at 34.1 for 2026, so this year's minimum is 500,000 ÷ 34.1 = $14,662.76, and the account must be empty by December 31, 2032.

Here is the part the minimum hides. At 5% growth, taking only the minimums leaves $552,150.84 to withdraw in 2032: more than the account holds today, all of it taxable in a single year on top of her salary. Spreading it level instead means withdrawals from $71,428.57 rising to about $95,721.12: seven predictable tax years instead of six small ones and a detonation.

The tax bomb, and how to defuse it deliberately

The 10-year rule's minimums are small precisely because they were designed for a different regime, which makes them a trap for anyone who treats the minimum as the plan. Every dollar left for year 10 comes out as ordinary income in one tax year: on a large account that can mean jumping two or three brackets, losing credits that phase out, and (if you are within sight of 65) crossing an IRMAA cliff that raises your Medicare premiums two years later; our Medicare IRMAA calculator prices those lines. The honest strategy is not "always take more": it is to fill your current tax bracket deliberately each year, taking more in low-income years and less in high ones, so no single year eats a spike. Roth inheritors get the opposite advice: with no tax on withdrawals and no annual minimums, waiting until year 10 maximizes the tax-free growth, and the only sin is missing the deadline.

Three housekeeping rules that outrank all the math. Keep the account titled as an inherited IRA (only a spouse may make it their own; anyone else who retitles or takes a personal check triggers full taxation with no undo). If the owner died mid-year without finishing that year's own RMD, that amount must still come out, paid to you. And if you inherited between 2020 and 2023 and took nothing in 2021 through 2024 while these rules were being argued about, the IRS waived those years' penalties; the annual requirement restarted in 2025 and is enforced now.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs?

For most non-spouse beneficiaries of owners who died in 2020 or later, the entire account must be withdrawn by December 31 of the tenth year after death. Whether you must also take annual minimums along the way depends on one fact: whether the owner died before or after their required beginning date.

Do I have to take annual RMDs under the 10-year rule?

Yes, if the owner died on or after their required beginning date (roughly, already 73 and taking RMDs) and the account is traditional: the 2024 final regulations require minimums in years 1 through 9, enforced since 2025. No, if the owner died before that date or the account is a Roth; then only the year-10 deadline applies.

How is an inherited IRA RMD calculated?

Divide the prior December 31 balance by your life expectancy factor. The factor comes from the IRS Single Life Expectancy Table at your age in the year after death, and you subtract one from it each year afterward rather than looking it up again. A 49-year-old's 37.1 becomes 36.1 the next year, and so on.

What happens if I miss an inherited IRA RMD?

A 25% excise tax on the amount you should have taken, reduced to 10% if you correct the shortfall promptly and file Form 5329. If you took nothing in 2021 through 2024 while the rules were unsettled, the IRS waived those penalties; the requirement restarted with 2025.

Is it smart to take only the minimum each year?

Usually not, for a traditional IRA. The minimums are small, so most of the account survives to year 10 and lands in one taxable year: in our example, a $500,000 inheritance leaves a $552,000 final withdrawal. Filling your current tax bracket deliberately each year almost always beats six quiet years and a detonation.

What are the rules for an inherited Roth IRA?

The same 10-year deadline, but no annual minimums ever, because a Roth owner has no required beginning date. Since withdrawals are tax-free, the usual strategy inverts: leave it growing until year 10 and take it all at the end. The only real mistake is missing the deadline.

What should a surviving spouse do with an inherited IRA?

A spouse is the one beneficiary with real options: treat the IRA as your own (usually best past 59 and a half), remain a beneficiary (withdrawals skip the early penalty, useful when younger), or use the SECURE 2.0 election for friendlier RMD math. The common mistake is staying a beneficiary by default long after the penalty protection stopped mattering.

Who counts as an eligible designated beneficiary?

Surviving spouses, the disabled and chronically ill, anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner, and the owner's minor children. They keep the old lifetime stretch instead of the 10-year clock, though a minor child switches to the 10-year rule at age 21.

Does the year-10 withdrawal affect Medicare premiums?

It can, painfully. A large withdrawal raises your MAGI, and Medicare's IRMAA surcharges are set by MAGI with a two-year lag and cliff-edge brackets, so a big year-10 distribution near retirement age can raise Part B and D premiums two years later. It is one more reason to spread withdrawals rather than letting them pile into one year.

What if the owner died before 2020?

You are grandfathered under the old rules: the lifetime stretch, with annual RMDs over your single life expectancy using the same locked-factor, reduce-by-one method, and no 10-year deadline. The SECURE Act did not take that away from existing inherited IRAs.

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