How to Calculate Required Minimum Distributions from a Traditional IRA Using Table III

If you have a traditional IRA, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount every year, whether you need the money or not, and that RMD for any year after the year you turn 73 must be withdrawn by December 31 of that year. Here's how that math works, using a $500,000 balance and age 75 as an example, since the divisor listed next to age 75 in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table is 24.6.

The basic formula: balance divided by a life-expectancy factor

Most IRA owners use Table III, known as the Uniform Lifetime Table, which applies if you're unmarried, if your spouse isn't your sole IRA beneficiary, or if your spouse is your sole beneficiary but not more than 10 years younger than you. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger, a different table (Table II, the Joint and Last Survivor Table) applies instead, and it typically produces a larger divisor and therefore a smaller required withdrawal. The starting point for the whole calculation is always your IRA's balance as of December 31 of the year before the year you're calculating the RMD for, not whatever your balance happens to be today.

Why the divisor for age 75 is 24.6

In the Uniform Lifetime Table, the distribution period listed next to age 75 is 24.6. The divisors get smaller as you age — for example, the same table lists a divisor of 6.4 at age 100 — which means a larger fraction of your account is required to come out each year as you get older. These particular divisors, including the 24.6 figure at age 75, come from updated life expectancy tables that took effect for distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, replacing older tables that assumed shorter life spans and therefore produced larger required withdrawals. If you started taking RMDs before 2022 under the old tables, your remaining life expectancy was generally reset using the new, longer figures starting with the 2022 distribution year.

Worked example: a 75-year-old with a $500,000 IRA

Picture a 75-year-old with a traditional IRA that had a balance of $500,000 at the close of business on December 31 of the prior year. This example assumes the owner is unmarried, or if married, doesn't have a spouse who is the sole beneficiary more than 10 years younger — the condition that keeps this person on Table III with the standard 24.6 divisor rather than the different divisor used under Table II. Using the Uniform Lifetime Table, the applicable denominator at age 75 is 24.6. Dividing $500,000 by 24.6 gives a required minimum distribution of $20,325.20 for that year. This mirrors the logic in the IRS's own worked example in Publication 590-B, where a 75-year-old with a $100,000 year-end balance and the same 24.6 divisor owed a $4,065 RMD, calculated the identical way: balance divided by divisor. Scale that same math up to a $500,000 balance and the divide-by-divisor mechanics stay the same as in the IRS's $100,000 example.

• balance: 500000
• divisor: 24.6
• Formula: balance/divisor
• Result: 20325.2

A 75-year-old with a $500,000 prior year-end IRA balance divides by the Table III divisor of 24.6 to get the required withdrawal.

When the money has to come out

Timing matters as much as the math. For every year after the year you turn 73, your RMD for that year must be withdrawn by December 31 of that same year. There's one exception: your very first RMD can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you turn 73, though doing so means you'd have to take two RMDs in that following year — the delayed one and the current year's — which can push you into a higher tax bracket. For a 75-year-old who is past that first-year grace period, the December 31 deadline applies with no flexibility, so the required withdrawal in the example above would need to come out before the calendar year ends.

How to calculate your own RMD

1. Find your traditional IRA's account balance as of December 31 of the prior year — this is the number the calculation starts from, not your current balance.
2. Confirm you're eligible to use Table III: you're unmarried, your spouse isn't your sole IRA beneficiary, or your spouse is the sole beneficiary but not more than 10 years younger than you.
3. Look up the distribution period next to your age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table in Publication 590-B — for example, 24.6 at age 75.
4. Divide your prior year-end balance by that divisor to get your required minimum distribution for the year.
5. Withdraw at least that amount by December 31 of the year you're calculating for, unless it's your very first RMD, which can wait until April 1 of the following year.

Steps for figuring your own RMD from a traditional IRA using Table III.

Selected ages and their divisors

Age	Distribution period (divisor)
75	24.6
100	6.4

Selected Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III) divisors from IRS Publication 590-B, current for distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022.

Key takeaways

• Your RMD equals your traditional IRA's balance as of December 31 of the prior year, divided by a life-expectancy divisor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table.
• At age 75, that divisor is 24.6, and applying that divisor to a $500,000 prior year-end balance for a hypothetical unmarried 75-year-old owner produces a required withdrawal of $20,325.20.
• Most owners use Table III; a spouse who is the sole beneficiary and more than 10 years younger changes which table applies.
• RMDs for any year after you turn 73 are due by December 31 of that year, with only the first RMD eligible for a delay to April 1 of the next year.
• Missing an RMD risks a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, reduced to 10% if corrected within two years.

Frequently asked questions

Does the RMD calculation use my IRA balance today or from last year?

It uses your balance as of the close of business on December 31 of the year before the year you're calculating the RMD for, not your current balance. That balance can be adjusted for certain outstanding rollovers that hadn't been credited to any account by year-end, but contributions or distributions made after that December 31 date don't factor into that year's calculation.

Why did my divisor change if I've been taking RMDs for years?

The IRS updated its life expectancy tables for distribution years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, generally producing larger divisors and smaller required withdrawals than the older tables. If you'd already started RMDs before that change, your remaining life expectancy was generally reset using the new tables starting with the 2022 distribution year.

What if my spouse is more than 10 years younger than me?

If that much-younger spouse is your sole designated beneficiary, you don't use the Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III) described in this article — you'd use Table II, the Joint and Last Survivor Table, instead, which generally produces a larger divisor and a smaller required distribution. If your spouse isn't your sole beneficiary, you still use Table III even if your spouse is more than 10 years younger.

Can I wait until April to take my RMD?

Only for your very first RMD — the one for the year you turn 73 — which can be delayed until April 1 of the following year. Every RMD after that must come out by December 31 of the year it's for, with no April extension.

What's the penalty if I don't take enough?

The IRS can charge a 25% excise tax on the portion of the RMD you failed to withdraw, but that drops to 10% if you withdraw the missed amount and file the required paperwork within the IRS's two-year correction window.

Sources

• www.irs.gov
• www.irs.gov