What your RMD figure means
The calculator divides last year's closing balance by the life expectancy factor for your age, taken from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. Three situations produce three different readings.
- Roth gold IRA No distribution required
- A Roth IRA has no required minimum distribution during the owner's lifetime, so the account can sit untouched for as long as you live. Beneficiaries who inherit one do face distribution requirements, generally on a ten-year clock, and those distributions are tax-free.
- Your first RMD year Two distributions can land in one tax year
- The first distribution may be delayed to 1 April of the following year, which sounds like a reprieve and often is not, because the second one is still due by 31 December of that same year. Two distributions in one tax year can push you into a higher bracket than taking the first one on time would have.
- Every year after Due by 31 December
- The figure recalculates each year against that year's closing balance and your new age factor. Inside a gold IRA the practical question is what you distribute, since taking metal in kind means an in-kind distribution valued at the time and taking cash means the custodian sells metal at a dealer bid first.
What is a required minimum distribution?
A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS makes you take out of a tax-deferred retirement account each year once you reach a set age. The money went in untaxed, so the rule exists to make sure it eventually gets taxed rather than sitting untouched and passing to heirs. Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s all carry the requirement, and Roth IRAs never have.
SECURE 2.0 split the starting age by birth year. Anyone born between 1951 and 1959 begins at 73, and anyone born in 1960 or later begins at 75. The first distribution can be deferred to 1 April of the following year, though doing that puts two distributions into one tax year, and every distribution after the first is due by 31 December.
For a gold IRA the requirement has a practical edge that a cash account does not. Metal is not divisible the way a fund balance is, so meeting the distribution means either instructing the custodian to sell coins at a dealer's bid price or taking coins in kind and paying tax on their valuation with no cash from the transaction to pay it. Both take longer than a December phone call allows for.
How required distributions work when the account holds metal
A required minimum distribution is the amount the IRS makes you take out of a traditional retirement account each year once you reach the starting age, calculated by dividing last year's closing balance by a life expectancy factor from the Uniform Lifetime Table. The divisor falls as you age, from 26.5 at 73 to 12.2 at 90, so the required share of the account rises every year even when the balance does not.
A gold IRA meets that requirement the same way any other IRA does, with one practical difference worth planning for. You can take the distribution in cash, which means the custodian sells metal at a dealer bid first, or you can take it in kind, which means specific coins or bars leave the account and are valued at the time they do. In-kind distribution keeps the metal and still creates the taxable event, which suits somebody who wants to hold the ounces rather than the dollars.
The penalty for missing one is the reason the date matters more than the mechanism. A missed distribution is taxed at 25% of the shortfall, reduced to 10% if corrected promptly, and that sits on top of the ordinary income tax you owed anyway. Metal takes longer to sell than a fund position, so a gold IRA is the account type where leaving the instruction until late December is most likely to cost something.
A Roth gold IRA has no lifetime requirement at all, which is the single largest planning difference between the two account types in this category. The account can compound untouched for as long as you live, and beneficiaries who inherit it face distribution rules on a ten-year clock with the distributions themselves tax-free.
How to use the RMD calculator
Two inputs, and the second one trips people up because the IRS uses last year's balance rather than today's.
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Enter your birth year
SECURE 2.0 split the starting age by birth year, so anyone born between 1951 and 1959 begins at 73 and anyone born in 1960 or later begins at 75. The calculator picks the right one rather than assuming.
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Use the 31 December balance, not today's
The IRS divides the prior year-end balance by the table factor, so a distribution due in 2027 is calculated from the balance on 31 December 2026. Using a current balance in a year when gold has moved will give you the wrong number in whichever direction it moved.
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Read the first year and the amount together
The result gives both the distribution due and the calendar year your first one falls in. The first year has a quirk, since it can be deferred to 1 April of the following year, which means taking two distributions in the same tax year.
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Look at the schedule, not just this year
The bars show the required amount rising across twenty years as the divisor shrinks, from 26.5 at age 73 to 12.2 at 90. The share of the account you must take out roughly triples over that span, which is the part that catches people holding an illiquid asset.
What each input means, and where to find the number
The balance is the one to get right. The IRS divides the prior year-end value, not the current one.
- Birth year
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Sets the age your first distribution is due, which is 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959 and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Anyone born before 1951 is already past the threshold under the earlier rules.
Where to find it Your birth certificate year. The rule keys on the year rather than the exact date, apart from the 1 April deferral in the first year.
- Account balance
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The balance on 31 December of the year before the distribution is due. For a gold IRA that figure is the custodian's year-end valuation of the metal, which will differ from both your purchase price and today's spot price.
Where to find it The custodian's year-end statement, or the Form 5498 they file, which reports the fair market value at 31 December.
- Spouse's age
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Only relevant if your spouse is your sole beneficiary for the whole year and is more than ten years younger, which moves you onto the joint life and last survivor table and lowers the required amount.
Where to find it Your beneficiary designation form at the custodian, which is what decides this rather than who you are married to.
How your required minimum distribution is calculated
One division, against a table the IRS publishes and updates rarely.
The calculator divides the prior year-end balance by the life expectancy factor for your age from Table III of IRS Publication 590-B, Appendix B, which is the uniform lifetime table used by every owner whose sole beneficiary is not a spouse more than ten years younger. The starting age comes from SECURE 2.0, which set 73 for those born 1951 to 1959 and 75 for those born in 1960 or later. The twenty-year schedule applies the same arithmetic forward, holding the balance flat so the rise you see is the divisor shrinking rather than a market assumption.
RMD = prior year-end balance ÷ uniform lifetime factor for your age
- balance
- Fair market value at 31 December of the previous year
- factor
- Table III of Publication 590-B, from 26.5 at age 73 to 2.0 at 120
What this figure leaves out
- The joint life table, which applies where a spouse more than ten years younger is the sole beneficiary and produces a lower required amount.
- Inherited IRAs, which run on a different set of rules entirely and mostly on a ten-year clock.
- Your tax bracket, since this returns the amount that must come out rather than what you will owe on it.
- The dealer's bid discount on selling metal to meet the distribution, which is real money and is not in this figure.
- Aggregation across employer plans, which cannot be satisfied from an IRA.
Three distributions, worked from the IRS table
A first distribution, a later cohort planning ahead, and someone well into their distribution years.
Eleanor, born 1953, first distribution
Turns 73 in 2026 with $310,000 across a traditional IRA and a gold IRA at 31 December 2025.
- Birth year
- 1953
- Balance
- $310,000
- Age
- 73
$11,698 is due for 2026, from a divisor of 26.5.
That is about 3.8% of the balance, and she can defer this first one to 1 April 2027, though doing so puts two distributions into the 2027 tax year and can push the second into a higher bracket.
Howard, born 1962, planning ahead
Wants to know when this starts and what it looks like on a projected $500,000.
- Birth year
- 1962
- Balance
- $500,000
- Age
- 75
$20,325 due at 75, from a divisor of 24.6.
The 1960-and-later cohort gets two extra years of deferral, and because the divisor at 75 is smaller than at 73 the first required amount is a slightly larger share of the balance, at about 4.1% rather than 3.8%.
Vera, born 1946, at 80
Well into her distribution years with $180,000 left, most of it in coins.
- Birth year
- 1946
- Balance
- $180,000
- Age
- 80
$8,911 due, from a divisor of 20.2.
Just under 5% of the account, and the share climbs every year from here. Meeting it from an account holding only coins means selling metal at a dealer's bid or taking coins in kind and paying tax on their valuation, and neither is as simple as selling a fund.
The RMD rules worth knowing
Four figures cover the mechanics, the deadline and what a missed distribution costs.
- 26.5 Divisor at 73
The first-year factor from the IRS uniform lifetime table, which puts the required distribution at about 3.8% of the prior year-end balance.
- 12.2 Divisor at 90
By 90 the required distribution is 8.2% of the balance a year, more than double the share required at 73, and it keeps climbing after that.
- 25% Penalty for missing one
SECURE 2.0 cut the excise tax on a missed required distribution from 50% to 25%, and to 10% where it is corrected inside a two-year window. It is still charged on the amount you failed to take.
- 1 April First-year deferral deadline
Only the first required distribution can be deferred, and only to 1 April of the following year. Every one after that is due by 31 December.
What people get wrong about required minimum distributions
The third of these is specific to metals accounts, and it is the one that turns a paperwork task into a December scramble.
Do Roth accounts have required minimum distributions?
No, Roth IRAs are exempt during the owner's lifetime, and since 2024 designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b) are exempt too. If your metals sit in a Roth gold IRA there is no required distribution during your lifetime, which is a real planning difference between the two account types.
Can I take the distribution from whichever account is easiest?
Yes across IRAs, since the total is calculated per account and may be taken from any one of them. Employer plans are different, because a 401(k) or 403(b) distribution must come from that plan, and aggregating across the two categories is the mistake that produces a shortfall.
Can the metal sit untouched while I take the distribution in cash?
No, not unless there is cash in the account to take, because a gold IRA holding nothing but coins has to sell some to meet the distribution, and the sale happens at a dealer's bid price rather than at spot. Custodians will also distribute coins in kind, which triggers tax on their valuation without producing any money to pay it with.
Is deferring the first distribution free?
No, it moves the first distribution into the same tax year as the second, so two land together. On a large balance that can lift the combined amount into a higher bracket, and it feeds the income figure that Medicare uses two years later to set the IRMAA surcharge.
Required minimum distribution questions
At what age do required minimum distributions start?
73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. SECURE 2.0 set both, moving the age up from 72 in 2023 and scheduling the further move to 75 for the later cohort. The first distribution can be deferred to 1 April of the following year, and every one after that is due by 31 December.
How do I take an RMD from a gold IRA?
Two ways, and both need starting well before December. You instruct the custodian to sell enough metal to raise the cash, which happens at the dealer's bid rather than at spot, or you take coins in kind and the custodian reports their fair market value as a taxable distribution. The in-kind route leaves you owing tax with no cash from the transaction to pay it.
What happens if I miss a required distribution?
The excise tax is 25% of the amount you should have taken, cut to 10% if you correct it within a two-year window and file Form 5329. SECURE 2.0 reduced this from the previous 50%. The IRS will also waive it where the shortfall was reasonable and is being corrected, requested on the same form.
Do Roth IRAs have RMDs?
No. Roth IRAs have never carried one during the owner's lifetime, and since 2024 designated Roth accounts inside a 401(k) or 403(b) no longer do either. Beneficiaries who inherit a Roth IRA do face distribution requirements, generally on a ten-year clock, though those distributions are tax-free.
Can I take more than the required minimum?
Yes, and the excess does not reduce next year's requirement, because each year's amount is calculated fresh from that year-end balance. For a gold IRA there is an argument for taking a little extra in a year you are already selling metal, since it saves paying a second round of the dealer's bid discount twelve months later.
What value does the IRS use for metal in an RMD calculation?
Fair market value on 31 December, which the custodian determines and reports to the IRS on Form 5498. That valuation reflects the metal price rather than your purchase price, so a year gold rose sharply raises next year's required distribution even though you sold nothing.