RMD by age
RMD at age 101: 16.67% of your balance
At 101, your required minimum distribution (RMD) is last December 31’s balance divided by 6.0, the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor — that’s 16.67% of the account, or $16,667 for every $100,000. In 2026 that means people born in 1925; in 2027, people born in 1926.
Your RMD at 101, in numbers
IRS factor (distribution period)
6.0
6.4 at 100 · 5.6 at 102
Share you must withdraw
16.67%
+1.04 pts vs. age 100
RMD per $100,000
$16,667
$17,857 at 102
Return needed to stay level
20%
What the account must earn after this RMD
RMD at 101 for common balances
| Dec 31 balance | RMD at 101 | Per month | At 102* |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $16,667 | $17,857 | |
| $250,000 | $41,667 | $44,643 | |
| $500,000 | $83,333 | $89,286 | |
| $1,000,000 | $166,667 | $178,571 | |
| $2,000,000 | $333,333 | $357,143 |
*If the balance is unchanged. Balances are examples — the math is the same for any amount. Factors from the Uniform Lifetime Table, Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9(c).
Where 101 sits: the share you must take, ages 73–105
Who turns 101 in 2026 and 2027?
People born in 1925 turn 101 in 2026, and people born in 1926 in 2027. Neither group reaches its RMD age now: the 2026 group has been taking RMDs since 1995 or 1996, the 2027 group since 1996 or 1997. Both use the same factor at 101: 6.0.
2026: born 1925 (January–June)
RMD age 70½ · first RMD 1995
Taking RMDs since 1995
2026: born 1925 (July–December)
RMD age 70½ · first RMD 1996
Taking RMDs since 1996
2027: born 1926 (January–June)
RMD age 70½ · first RMD 1996
Taking RMDs since 1996
2027: born 1926 (July–December)
RMD age 70½ · first RMD 1997
Taking RMDs since 1997
One exception to the dates above: if you kept working past your RMD age, own 5% or less of the company and its plan let you delay, that plan’s first RMD is for the year you retire — due by April 1 of the next year. IRAs never get this delay.
Born in 1925? The old rules split your year at July 1: with a January–June birthday your RMD age was 70½ and your first RMD year 1995; with a July–December birthday, 70½ and 1996. Either way, the factor you use today is the same: 6.0 at 101.
The table always uses the age you reach on your birthday during the year, so someone born on December 31, 1925 uses 101 for all of 2026. See the full RMD table for every age from 72 to 120 and older.
Work out your own RMD at 101
The calculator starts with a 1925 birth date and a $500,000 balance. Change either one, pick 2027 to plan ahead, or add a much younger spouse.
Your details
RMD for which year?
It’s on your year-end statement. Don’t subtract anything you’ve withdrawn this year.
Projection assumptions
Only affects future years in the chart, not this year’s RMD.
Results update as you type. We don’t save what you enter; shared links keep it after the “#”, which never reaches our servers.
Your 2026 required minimum distribution
$83,333.33
That’s 16.67% of your December 31, 2025 balance. Withdraw it by December 31, 2026.
Your age in the table
101
Age you reach in 2026
IRS distribution period
6
Uniform Lifetime table
Monthly if spread out
$6,944
You can take it any way you like
Show the math
- Balance on December 31, 2025: $500,000.00
- Age you reach in 2026: 2026 − 1925 = 101
- Uniform Lifetime table factor: 6
- $500,000.00 ÷ 6 = $83,333.33
If you own several IRAs, add up each one’s RMD — you can withdraw the total from any of them. 401(k) RMDs must come out of each 401(k) separately.
Your RMDs over time
Assuming 5% yearly growth and only the RMD withdrawn. The percentage you must take rises every year.
See the year-by-year table
| Year | Age | Balance Jan 1 | Factor | RMD |
|---|
Uses the IRS tables in effect for 2026 (Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9). Last verified October 23, 2026.
How do you calculate your RMD at 101?
Take each account’s balance on December 31 of last year and divide it by 6.0, the IRS factor for 101. On a $500,000 IRA that’s $83,333 for the year — about $6,944 a month if you’d rather spread it out. You can take more, but never less, and the extra doesn’t count toward next year.
- Find last year’s December 31 balance for every traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b). Leave out Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k) and 403(b) money — they have no RMDs while you’re alive.
- Use the age you reach on your birthday this year — 101 if you were born in 1925 — even if that birthday is on December 31.
- Divide by 6.0, the Uniform Lifetime Table factor for 101 (or by the Joint and Last Survivor factor if your spouse qualifies — see below).
- Withdraw it by the deadline: December 31, or April 1 of next year for a first RMD. You can add up your IRA RMDs and take the total from any one IRA; each 401(k) has to pay its own.
One number worth knowing: after an RMD of 16.67%, your investments have to earn about 20% this year just for the account to end the year where it started. Earn more and next year’s RMD grows; earn less and the account slowly shrinks — exactly what the rules intend.
Do RMDs ever stop?
No. The IRS table runs to age 120 and older, where the factor is 2.0 — 50% of the balance every year. At 101 you must take 16.67%, or $16,667 per $100,000, however small the account. The table never asks for more than half the balance, so the RMD alone never empties it.
Missing one is expensive: an excise tax of 25% of the shortfall, cut to 10% if you fix it in time. The IRS can waive it entirely for a reasonable error you correct promptly; you ask by attaching an explanation to Form 5329. If someone else handles your accounts, ask the custodian to pay the RMD automatically each year.
What happens to the RMD in the year you die?
It still has to come out. If you die after your RMDs have started, whatever part of that year’s RMD you hadn’t taken must be withdrawn by your beneficiaries by December 31. After that they follow the inherited-IRA rules — for most non-spouse heirs, yearly RMDs and a 10-year deadline.
If the death comes late in the year, there’s relief: the IRS waives the excise tax automatically when the heirs take the missing amount by the end of the following year, or by their tax-filing deadline (with extensions) if that is later. Heirs use a different table, the Single Life Table, and the rules depend on who they are. The inherited IRA calculator works it out; the beneficiary table summary shows the factors.
What if your spouse is 15 years younger?
If your spouse is your only beneficiary all year, you use the Joint and Last Survivor Table instead. At 101 with an 86-year-old spouse the factor is 8.0 rather than 6.0, so you must take 12.50% of the balance instead of 16.67%.
| Balance on December 31, 2025 | $500,000 |
|---|---|
| Ages reached in 2026 | You 101 (born 1925), spouse 86 (born 1940) |
| Joint and Last Survivor factor | 8.0 (row 101, column 86) |
| RMD with the joint table | $500,000 ÷ 8.0 = $62,500 |
| RMD with the Uniform table | $500,000 ÷ 6.0 = $83,333 |
| You withdraw less | $20,833 (25% less) |
Two conditions, both strict: your spouse must be more than 10 years younger and the sole beneficiary of that account for the entire year. Marital status is fixed on January 1, so a divorce or a death during the year changes the table only from the next year. At a gap of exactly 10 years the two tables give the same factor. Try your own ages in the RMD calculator with a younger spouse or the joint-table lookup.
Can a qualified charitable distribution cover your RMD at 101?
Yes. Past age 70½, money sent straight from your IRA to a charity — a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) — counts toward your RMD and never shows up in your taxable income, up to $111,000 per person in 2026. It can cover part of the RMD or all of it.
At 101, that limit covers the entire RMD on any IRA balance up to $666,000. A QCD beats taking the RMD and then writing a check: the gift never enters your adjusted gross income, which can keep more of your Social Security untaxed and your Medicare premiums lower — even if you take the standard deduction.
The money must go directly from the IRA to the charity by December 31. It can’t come from a 401(k) — to give from 401(k) money, take that plan’s RMD for the year first (an RMD can’t be rolled over), then roll the rest into an IRA — or from an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA. The IRS has not announced the 2027 limit yet. Not announced yet
Gift on your mind but not sure how much? On $500,000 the whole $83,333 RMD could go to charity; next year at 102 the same balance would require $89,286.
RMD at other ages
Each tile shows the share of the balance you must withdraw at that age.
RMD at 101: common questions
How much is the required minimum distribution at age 101?
At 101 you divide last December 31’s account balance by 6.0, the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table factor, which means withdrawing 16.67% of it. That is $16,667 per $100,000, $83,333 on $500,000 and $166,667 on $1 million. If your only beneficiary is a spouse more than 10 years younger, the Joint and Last Survivor Table gives a smaller RMD.
What birth year is age 101 for RMDs in 2026?
Anyone born in 1925 reaches 101 on their 2026 birthday, and the IRS uses that age for the whole year — even if the birthday is in December. In 2027, the age-101 group is people born in 1926. People born in 1925 have been taking RMDs since 1995 or 1996, depending on their birth date.
Is there still an RMD at age 101?
Yes. RMDs never stop while you own a traditional IRA or 401(k). At 101 the factor is 6.0, so you must withdraw 16.67% of the prior year-end balance — $16,667 per $100,000. The percentage keeps rising but never reaches 100%: at 120 and older the factor is 2.0, or 50% of the balance a year.
What happens if I miss my RMD at 101?
The IRS charges an excise tax of 25% of the amount you didn’t take — $20,833 if you skipped the whole $83,333 RMD on $500,000. Take the missed amount and report it on Form 5329 by the end of the second year after the year it was due — before the IRS contacts you — and the tax drops to 10%, or $8,333. For a reasonable error you fix promptly, you can ask the IRS to waive it entirely.
Can a charitable donation count as my RMD at 101?
Yes. You are past 70½, so a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) sent directly from your IRA to a charity counts toward the RMD and stays out of your taxable income — up to $111,000 per person in 2026. At 101, an $83,333 QCD would cover the whole RMD on a $500,000 IRA. The IRS has not announced the 2027 limit yet.
Sources
Primary sources only. We re-check them whenever an agency publishes new figures.
- eCFR
- eCFR
- eCFR
- eCFR
- IRS
- IRS
- IRSIRS Publication 590-B (2025), PDF — Appendix B life expectancy tables and worked examples· published January 21, 2026
- Congress
- eCFR
- IRSIRS Notice 2025-67 — 2026 retirement plan limits, including the QCD limit· published November 13, 2025
- Congress
- Federal RegisterFederal Register — Required Minimum Distributions final regulations (T.D. 10001)· published July 19, 2024
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