Inherited IRA SECURE Act Distribution Calculator

Introduction to inherited IRA deadlines and annual distributions

An inherited traditional IRA creates two related, but different, planning jobs. First, the beneficiary needs to know the smallest distribution the rules require and the date by which the account must be emptied. Second, the beneficiary needs to decide whether taking only that minimum is sensible when every traditional IRA dollar withdrawn is generally ordinary income. This inherited IRA calculator separates those jobs: it builds a compliance-oriented schedule and compares it with simpler ways to spread or defer withdrawals.

The SECURE Act replaced the old “stretch IRA” outcome for many adult beneficiaries. A designated beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary commonly has to empty the account by December 31 of the year containing the tenth anniversary of the owner’s death. That deadline does not always mean ten equal distributions. When the owner died before their required beginning date, there is generally no required distribution in years one through nine. When the owner died on or after that date, annual required minimum distributions can continue during the same 10-year period.

This distinction matters because an account can grow while it waits. A minimum-only path may satisfy the distribution rule but leave a large final-year withdrawal. The calculator uses the IRS Table I Single Life Expectancy values embedded in this page, rather than estimating a divisor from age, and applies a stated annual return only after the year’s withdrawal.

For the first modeled year, the starting balance convention is the preceding December 31 account value:

That convention is useful for planning, but a custodian’s reported prior-year-end balance and the actual facts of the inheritance control a real distribution calculation.

How to use the inherited IRA distribution schedule

Start with the inherited IRA balance from December 31 of the year before the first distribution year. That is the balance convention used for a real RMD calculation. Enter the beneficiary’s age in the first distribution year, not simply the age on the date of death. Enter the decedent’s age because it helps the calculator identify whether the owner is treated as having reached the required beginning date and, for some cases, supplies the owner’s remaining life-expectancy divisor.

The beneficiary classification is the most important choice. A surviving spouse, another eligible designated beneficiary, a minor child of the decedent, an ordinary designated beneficiary, and a non-person beneficiary do not follow the same path. The return assumption is a planning input, not a forecast. It lets you see how a balance might respond if money remaining after a withdrawal earns a constant percentage for one year.

Choose the withdrawal strategy you want displayed. “Required minimum only” follows the legal floor produced by the model. “Even withdrawals to the deadline” withdraws at least the RMD and otherwise takes an equal share of the balance over the remaining deadline years. “Defer as long as legally allowed” also follows the floor; it is meaningfully different only where no interim RMD is required. The results include a separate comparison so that a choice in the form does not hide the other paths.

For an ordinary designated beneficiary in the 10-year branch, the modeled final calendar year is:

For a non-person beneficiary under the five-year branch, the comparable modeled final year is:

Formula for inherited IRA RMD divisors and balance growth

The required minimum distribution for year $y$ is the balance entering that year divided by the applicable divisor:

Here $B_y$ is the starting balance and $D_y$ is the applicable Table I denominator. For a beneficiary using the fixed-term method, Table I is read at the first distribution age and the divisor falls by one each year:

A spouse who remains a beneficiary instead recalculates from their current age. That changes the denominator rule to:

For a non-person beneficiary after the owner’s required beginning date, the model uses the owner’s remaining life expectancy, often called the ghost life expectancy:

When the rules call for the longer of beneficiary and owner life expectancy, the schedule uses:

After withdrawing $W_y$, this calculator grows the amount left by the assumed return $r$:

In a deadline year the whole balance is withdrawn. The even strategy uses the greater of the RMD and an equal fraction of the remaining balance:

The deadline sweep in the last modeled year can be written as:

The calculator limits any scheduled withdrawal to the balance that is actually present:

In other words, a displayed distribution is a pre-tax gross amount. It does not subtract withholding, estimated tax payments, or any tax due when the withdrawal is reported.

Inherited IRA rule branches used by this calculator

The calculator’s branch is an educational summary of the beneficiary rules in IRS Publication 590-B. A surviving spouse who remains a beneficiary uses recalculated Table I life expectancy in this model. Another eligible designated beneficiary uses a fixed divisor, or the longer applicable divisor when the owner died after the required beginning date. A minor child uses the life-expectancy approach until age 21, followed by a 10-year deadline in this simplified model.

An ordinary designated beneficiary receives the familiar 10-year branch. If the owner died before the required beginning date, the schedule has a final deadline but no annual RMD before it. If the owner died after that date, the calculator produces annual RMDs and still empties the balance by the tenth anniversary year. An estate, charity, or other non-person beneficiary uses a five-year deadline before the required beginning date or the owner’s ghost life expectancy after it.

The model’s required-beginning-date screening assumption is:

Age 73 is a convenient screen, not a substitute for the owner’s birth date or current transition rules. The actual required beginning date can depend on the year of birth and other facts. The calculator therefore identifies its result as an estimate rather than a filing instruction.

For the simplified minor-child branch, the transition year used in the schedule is:

The simplified minor-child deadline then follows this relationship:

Worked example: adult child, $400,000 IRA, and a 2034 deadline

Suppose a 75-year-old owner dies in 2024 and leaves $400,000 to a 45-year-old adult child. Distributions start in 2025, when the child is 46, and the account earns an assumed 5% after each withdrawal. The child is not an eligible designated beneficiary, so the account must be empty by December 31, 2034. Because the owner died after the required beginning date, annual RMDs also apply.

At age 46, Table I gives a 40.0 divisor. The first year’s minimum is therefore:

Taking $10,000 leaves $390,000; at a 5% assumption that becomes $409,500. A minimum-only plan can therefore leave more money in the IRA despite a withdrawal. By the final year, the account may require a single large distribution. Even withdrawals generally reduce that concentration, although they also move money out of the tax-deferred account sooner. The best timing depends on other income, expected future tax circumstances, and the rules that apply to the particular beneficiary.

That arithmetic does not mean the account will earn 5%, and it does not mean $10,000 is the beneficiary’s best withdrawal. It simply shows why delaying voluntary distributions can make a later withdrawal materially larger. A beneficiary whose employment income falls in later years might reasonably reach a different timing decision than one whose income is rising.

Reading an inherited IRA result before making a tax decision

Focus on the deadline statement first, then the annual required-minimum column, and finally the largest single withdrawal shown in the strategy comparison. The total withdrawn is not a tax-cost measure: a deferred strategy can have a larger pre-tax total because more money remained invested. What tends to matter for tax planning is the year in which withdrawals stack on top of wages, pension income, Social Security taxation, capital gains, or other taxable income.

A useful starting question is whether approximately one tenth of the inherited balance fits within the beneficiary’s expected income headroom. If it does, an even path may avoid a final-year spike. If income is expected to drop during the window, a beneficiary may prefer to shift voluntary distributions into lower-income years. The calculator does not estimate brackets or recommend a withdrawal; it makes the size and timing of each option visible.

A rough even-distribution starting point before considering growth and required floors is:

The balance carried into the next period after a planned withdrawal is:

Those two relationships explain why a perfectly level withdrawal is not necessarily possible or required. Investment returns, the applicable annual RMD floor, and the hard deadline all interact. The schedule is most useful when it helps a beneficiary prepare questions for a tax professional before the account becomes a last-minute problem.

Ten-Year Ladder mini-game: practice smoothing a distribution

The optional Ten-Year Ladder mini-game turns the timing lesson into a short planning challenge. Each round presents ten years of other income and an inherited account that must be empty at the end. Drag on the board, tap a target height, or use the arrow keys to set the current year’s distribution. Try to land near the glowing smooth-income target while respecting the required floor and leaving enough room to finish the account. Income patterns and the target vary between rounds, so a good run rewards reading the deadline instead of repeating one move.

The game uses a simplified graduated-income illustration. The real tax effect of a withdrawal is the difference between tax on other income plus the withdrawal and tax on other income alone:

The teaching schedule charges a rate to each slice of income:

The game awards more points when the selected withdrawal lands near the moving target, then increases the pressure by changing future income patterns. It is deliberately a simplified exercise: it does not use a taxpayer’s filing status, deductions, credits, state tax, or actual tax brackets.

Use the game as a quick visual reminder that an inherited IRA distribution generally stacks on top of other taxable income. It remains completely separate from the calculator form and never changes the calculator’s schedule or formulas.

Limitations and assumptions for this inherited IRA estimate

This inherited IRA estimate is a learning tool, not tax, legal, or investment advice. It models one withdrawal at the start of each year and one constant return after that withdrawal. It does not calculate federal or state income tax, Medicare IRMAA, surtaxes, deductions, credits, actual investment returns, or penalties. The required beginning date is approximated using age 73; real cases near a transition age require the owner’s date of birth and current IRS guidance.

Trust language, multiple beneficiaries, successor beneficiaries, separate-account deadlines, spouse rollovers, elections available to eligible designated beneficiaries, and historical table-transition rules can all change a real answer. A trust can be treated as a see-through trust or as a non-person depending on its terms. Confirm the beneficiary category, applicable deadline, and prior-year balance with the IRA custodian and a qualified tax professional before taking action.

For reference, this calculator’s return assumption is applied once per modeled year after the withdrawal. It does not model daily market movement, contributions, transfers, fees, withholding, or an intrayear distribution date. The annual return relationship is:

Questions about inherited IRA schedules