IRS RMD Table for 2027

2027 Uniform Lifetime Table (ages 72–100)

The table almost every account owner uses. Divide your December 31, 2026 balance by the divisor for your 2027 age; the "% of balance" column is the same number as a withdrawal rate. These divisors have not changed since 2022, so they match the 2026 RMD table.

Source: 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9, Table 2 (IRS Publication 590-B Appendix B, Table III), in force for distribution years 2022 onward. The IRS calls the divisor the "distribution period"; custodians often call it the life expectancy factor.

2027 RMD deadlines

The April 1 delay is only for the very first RMD (the "required beginning date"). It moves that withdrawal into the next tax year, where it lands on top of the second year's RMD. Two years of distributions on one return often push retirees into a higher bracket or an IRMAA tier, so most are better off taking the first RMD by December 31. The first RMD deadline calculator handles the still-working exception for employer plans.

2027 RMD table by year of birth

Your RMD age for 2027 is the age you reach on your birthday in 2027. Under SECURE 2.0 the start age is 73 if you were born 1951–1959 and 75 if you were born 1960 or later.

Anyone born in 1953 or earlier is past the first RMD year; from here on only current age sets the divisor, whatever their start age was.

2027 RMD amount by age: $100,000, $500,000 and $1 million

The same table in dollars. Each figure is the 2027 required minimum for that December 31, 2026 balance. For any other balance, scale in proportion.

Joint Life table: spouse more than 10 years younger

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary for all of 2027 and is more than 10 years younger, use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Table instead. It is a grid of both ages, and its divisors are larger, so the RMD is smaller. An excerpt for owners aged 73–85 with a spouse aged 54–62, with the Uniform Lifetime divisor for comparison:

Source: 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9, Table 3 (IRS Publication 590-B Appendix B, Table II). For any other age pair, the RMD calculator applies the full table automatically.

Single Life Table (inherited accounts)

Beneficiaries who may stretch distributions over their life expectancy (a spouse, minor child of the owner, disabled or chronically ill person, or someone not more than 10 years younger than the owner) use this table, starting from their age in the year after the owner's death and subtracting one each later year. So does any other designated beneficiary of an owner who died on or after the required beginning date, for the annual RMDs in years 1-9 of the 10-year window; when the owner died on or after that date, the divisor is the longer of the beneficiary's or the owner's remaining life expectancy. An excerpt by beneficiary age:

Source: 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-9, Table 1 (IRS Publication 590-B Appendix B, Table I). The 10-year rule and year-by-year schedules: inherited IRA calculator.

Worked examples: 2027 RMD from a December 31, 2026 balance

Run your own balance and age on the RMD calculator.

Penalty for missing a 2027 RMD

A shortfall triggers a 25% excise tax under IRC §4974, reduced to 10% if you correct it within the correction window and file Form 5329. The missed RMD penalty calculator works out both, and the reasonable-cause waiver route.

Sources

• Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9 — Life Expectancy and Distribution Period Tables
• IRS Publication 590-B — Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements
• IRS — Uniform Lifetime Table (Table III)
• IRS — Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions
• IRC §4974 — Excise Tax on Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans
• SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022