Inherited IRA RMDs: the 10-year rule, yearly RMDs and the stretch
Inherited accounts follow different rules depending on when the owner died, whether they had started RMDs and who you are. Rmdtally applies them for 2026 next to your own accounts.
Which rule applies
- Owner died before 2020, or you are an eligible designated beneficiary (spouse, disabled, chronically ill, not more than 10 years younger, or the owner's minor child): yearly RMDs over your life expectancy. Divisor = Single Life table at your age in the year after death, minus one for each year since.
- Owner died in 2020 or later and you are any other beneficiary: the account must be empty by December 31 of the 10th year after death. If the owner had already started RMDs, you also take a yearly RMD in years 1–9, and from 2025 that yearly RMD is required (final regulations, T.D. 10001).
- Inherited Roth IRA: the owner never had RMDs, so a non-eligible beneficiary takes nothing yearly but must empty it by the 10th year.
Source: IRS Pub. 590-B, chapter 1 and Appendix B.
Worked example
The app's sample is a fictional retiree born in 1952, so 74 at the end of 2026, with 9 accounts worth $1,419,250 on December 31, 2025. The Uniform Lifetime divisor at 74 is 25.5, so the three IRAs ($734,800) need $28,816 between them, from any one or more of them. After $6,000 withdrawn and a $5,000 QCD, $17,816 is left. The inherited IRA from a mother who died in 2022 uses the Single Life table: 18.0 at the beneficiary's age 71 in 2023, minus 3, gives 15.0 and $9,587. In total $49,565 is due for 2026 and $37,365 is still to take.
Your balances stay on your computer
Rmdtally reads your account list with JavaScript in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, and closing the tab clears it.
How it works
- List your accounts in the template (or any CSV or Excel sheet) with each December 31, 2025 balance from your year-end statements, and drop it here — or try the sample.
- Type your birth year, then read each account's 2026 RMD, what's still to take per group and every check.
- Compare with your custodians' figures and take what's left before December 31.
FAQ
What does Rmdtally do?
It reads a list of your retirement accounts and works out each one's 2026 required minimum distribution with the IRS life-expectancy tables, groups them the way the IRS lets you combine them, subtracts what you've taken and your QCDs, and shows what's still due by December 31, 2026.
Which accounts have RMDs?
Traditional, rollover, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and other employer plans once you reach your RMD age (73 if born 1951–1959, 75 if born 1960 or later), and most inherited accounts. Roth IRAs have none for the owner, and Roth 401(k)/403(b) accounts have none from 2024.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Your files are read by JavaScript in your browser tab and never sent to us or anyone else. Accounts and balances aren't stored, so closing the tab clears them. Settings can be saved in this browser.
What's free?
Importing any number of accounts, the 2026 RMD total, the groups, what's still to take, every check, the first 5 accounts and the first 3 years of the estimate on screen and in print (with a footer). Pro shows and prints everything and exports the Excel workbook and both CSVs.
How is the RMD worked out?
December 31, 2025 balance ÷ the divisor for your age in 2026 from the Uniform Lifetime table (Pub. 590-B Table III). Inherited accounts use the Single Life table (Table I) for the beneficiary's age in the year after death, minus one for each year since, or the 10-year rule. If the owner died in 2026 after starting RMDs, whatever part of the owner's 2026 RMD they had not taken must still come out by December 31 (Pub. 590-B).
What isn't covered?
The Joint and Last Survivor table (spouse more than 10 years younger and sole beneficiary), annuitized accounts, 403(b) pre-1987 balances, trusts as beneficiaries and state taxes. Your custodian's figure and a tax professional come first.
Is this tax advice?
No. Rmdtally applies the IRS tables it describes to the numbers you provide. It is a worksheet to check against your custodians' figures.