RMD Calculator 2026 — Required Minimum Distributions for Married Couples

Each spouse has a completely independent RMD schedule. Enter both spouses' ages and account balances to see your 2026 required minimum distributions side by side, your combined household total, and how RMDs affect your IRMAA bracket.

How RMDs work for married couples

Unlike nearly every other tax calculation, RMDs are completely individual — there is no joint RMD for married couples. Each spouse has their own set of accounts, their own starting age (which depends on their birth year), their own life expectancy divisor, and their own annual deadline. The only coordination required happens at the income level: both spouses' RMDs add together as ordinary income, which can push your combined MAGI into higher tax brackets and IRMAA tiers.

IRA aggregation — strategic flexibility

If one spouse holds multiple traditional IRAs, their total IRA RMD can be aggregated and withdrawn from any single account or any combination. If Spouse A's combined IRA RMD is $42,000, they can pull the full $42,000 from the account at their preferred custodian rather than proportionally from each. This lets you consolidate accounts without triggering extra tax.

401(k) and 403(b) — per-account, no aggregation

Employer plan accounts follow a stricter rule: each 401(k) or 403(b) must have its RMD calculated from and distributed out of that specific account. You cannot aggregate across different employer plans, and you cannot satisfy a 401(k) RMD with an IRA withdrawal (or vice versa). If either spouse has old 401(k)s at multiple former employers, each requires a separate RMD calculation and withdrawal.

RMD starting ages under SECURE 2.0

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 introduced birth-year-based starting ages:²

• Born 1950 or earlier: Already taking RMDs (under prior age-72 or age-70½ rules).
• Born 1951–1959: RMD starting age is 73.
• Born 1960 or later: RMD starting age is 75.

The first-year trap: April 1 deferral

In your first RMD year you may defer that initial distribution to April 1 of the following year. Sounds helpful — but it forces two full RMDs into one calendar year (the deferred first-year RMD by April 1, then the second-year RMD by December 31). For most couples this doubles the taxable income in that year, potentially crossing an IRMAA tier boundary. In most situations, taking the first RMD in the actual first year avoids the income spike.

Roth 401(k) — no more lifetime RMDs

SECURE 2.0 § 325 eliminated required minimum distributions from Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) accounts during the account owner's lifetime, effective January 1, 2024. Roth 401(k) balances are excluded from this calculator — they have no RMD. Many advisors now suggest leaving Roth 401(k) balances in place to compound RMD-free rather than automatically rolling to a Roth IRA.²

The QCD strategy: satisfy RMDs without the MAGI hit

Account owners who are 70½ or older can make Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) of up to $111,000 per person directly from a traditional IRA to a qualified charity.¹ QCDs count toward the RMD requirement but are completely excluded from MAGI — unlike an itemized charitable deduction, a QCD reduces AGI before it is calculated. This is one of the most powerful tools for couples with large RMDs facing IRMAA cliffs.

Example: A couple where both spouses have combined IRA RMDs of $78,000 and a pension of $140,000. Total MAGI: $218,000 — exactly at the IRMAA Tier 1 boundary. A $20,000 combined QCD drops their MAGI to $198,000, safely below the threshold, saving $1,948/year in Part B surcharges. Key rules: must go directly from IRA to charity (not through a donor-advised fund), and counts toward that year's RMD.

IRMAA and RMD stacking: the most common retirement income surprise

Couples who manage their income carefully during the early retirement years — before RMDs begin — often find their IRMAA situation changes dramatically once both spouses' RMDs are required. A couple with $1.5M in combined traditional accounts can have RMDs of $55,000–$80,000/year by their mid-70s, stacking on top of Social Security and pension income. Crossing IRMAA Tier 1 ($218,000 MFJ in 2026) adds $1,948/year in Part B surcharges alone — per couple, both spouses combined.

The solution is the Roth conversion window — the years between retirement and when RMDs begin — to convert pre-tax balances to Roth and reduce future mandatory distributions. Each $100,000 converted now is roughly $4,000–$5,000 less in annual RMDs at age 75–80. See the Roth Conversion Calculator for the full analysis.

IRS Uniform Lifetime Table — 2026 divisors

The Uniform Lifetime Table (ULT) applies to most account owners. It assumes a beneficiary 10 years younger regardless of your actual beneficiary's age — with one exception: if your sole IRA beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, you may use the Joint Life Expectancy Table, which produces a lower (more favorable) RMD because it reflects two longer lives.¹

Source: IRS Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9, Table III (Uniform Lifetime Table) per T.D. 9930, effective 2022, unchanged for 2026.¹ RMD % = 1 ÷ divisor, rounded to 2 decimal places.

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