What are the required minimum distribution start ages, calculation tables, and penalties? Answer in under 100 words. Cite only eCFR (www.ecfr.gov) sources.

Details / How it works

RMD math, ages, and timing come from 26 CFR §1.401(a)(9)-5, the Treasury regulation governing required minimum distributions from individual-account plans.

• Formula: Each distribution calendar year's RMD is the account balance ÷ applicable denominator, capped so it never exceeds the entire account balance.
• Account balance: Measured as of the last valuation date of the preceding valuation calendar year, adjusted for subsequent contributions, forfeitures and distributions; all of the employee's accounts are aggregated, while designated Roth amounts (through the year of death) and QLAC values are excluded.
• Default denominator: Uniform Lifetime Table in §1.401(a)(9)-9(c), keyed to the employee's age on the birthday within the distribution calendar year.
• Younger-spouse exception: Joint and Last Survivor Table in §1.401(a)(9)-9(d) supplies the divisor when a surviving spouse more than ten years younger is the sole beneficiary throughout the year.
• Beneficiaries: After the employee's death, all remaining life expectancies are drawn from the Single Life Table in §1.401(a)(9)-9(b) and reduced annually, driving payouts under §1.401(a)(9)-5(d).
• Timing: The first distribution calendar year's RMD may slide to April 1 of the following year; every later RMD is due by December 31 of its own distribution calendar year, an RMD stays due for the year of death, and over-distributions produce no forward credit.

Numbers & thresholds

Exceptions & edge cases

• Roth IRA owners owe nothing while alive: Sections 408(a)(6) and (b)(3) require no lifetime minimum distributions; only the post-death §401(a)(9)(B) regime applies, operating as if the owner died before the required beginning date, with the at-least-as-rapidly rule excluded and a spouse-beneficiary permitted to delay distributions or treat the Roth IRA as his or her own.
• QLAC carve-outs vanish in Roth form: The §1.401(a)(9)-5(b)(4)/§1.408-8(h) longevity-annuity balance exclusions do not apply to a Roth IRA.
• Vesting never suspends the calculation: RMDs ignore vesting status; if vested funds fall below the computed amount, only the vested slice is payable and the shortfall is added to the following year's RMD.
• RMDs are dead ends for rollover planning: Any portion treated as a required minimum distribution—including catch-up amounts under the surviving-spouse rule—is not an eligible rollover distribution, and section 408(d)(3) bars rolling over an RMD in the IRA setting, with the first dollars distributed each year attributed to that RMD and therefore unavailable for Roth conversion until the full RMD is out.
• Penalty exposure flows through the income tax: Money held past the 60-day rollover window enters gross income under §402(a) and risks the 10% additional §72(t) tax; nonqualified Roth amounts above the owner's contributions are taxed and likewise carry the 10% surcharge absent an exception; an unrecharacterized failed conversion collapses into an excess Roth contribution exposed to the §4973 excise, while forfeiting the 4-year spread and facing §72(t) on the moved funds.
• SIMPLE IRA straitjacket: During the two-year period beginning with first participation in any employer's SIMPLE plan, distributed SIMPLE money cannot convert to a Roth IRA.