Inherited IRA Calculator

You inherited an IRA and the clock is ticking: the 10-year rule says it must be empty by a deadline — and how you spread the withdrawals can change the tax bill by five figures. This tool runs every year of your window through your own tax return: annual RMDs (when the rules require them), your bracket, the Social Security torpedo, IRMAA cliffs, and your state. 2026 rules, all in your browser; your numbers never leave this computer.
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The inherited account required

RMD age was 72 for deaths in 2020–2022 and 73 for 2023 and later. This one checkbox decides a lot: if the owner died on or after their required beginning date, the 2024 IRS final regulations make you take an annual RMD in years 1–9 of the window (enforced since 2025). If they died before it, you can time withdrawals however you like — only the year-10 deadline is fixed.

You & your other 2026 income required

⚙️ More detail — tax-exempt interest
Enter income before any deduction (AGI-style — what lands on the income lines of your 1040): the calculator subtracts the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 joint, plus the 65+ extras) for you, every year of the window. It assumes this income stays roughly level (in today's dollars) across the window — adjust and re-run when life changes.

Withdrawal strategy the decision

All five strategies are computed and compared on the right no matter what you pick here — this only chooses which one the year-by-year table and chart break down. "Fill the bracket" withdraws just enough each year to reach the top of that federal bracket (never less than any required RMD), with whatever's left forced out at the deadline.

What the timing is worth

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Must be empty by
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Withdrawal years left
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This year's required minimum
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Best strategy (after-tax)
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Total tax — best
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Total tax — worst
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Strategy comparison — same account, five timings

Every strategy empties the account by the deadline and honors required minimums. Total withdrawn differs because money left in the account longer keeps growing tax-deferred. After-tax at the deadline is the apples-to-apples column: each year's net withdrawal is assumed reinvested in a plain taxable account (same return, with a 15% annual tax drag on its growth) until the deadline year — so it credits late strategies for the extra growth and charges them for the bigger tax bill.

Year by year —

Good-to-know moves

  • No early-withdrawal penalty, ever. Death distributions are exempt from the 10% under-59½ penalty at any age — the tax bill is only ordinary income tax (and $0 for an inherited Roth).
  • The year-of-death RMD is yours to finish. If the owner was past RMD age and hadn't taken that year's RMD before dying, you must withdraw the rest of it by December 31 (the IRS allows until your tax-filing deadline for the year of death).
  • Missing a required distribution costs 25% of the shortfall (reduced to 10% if you fix it within two years). Annual RMDs inside the 10-year window are enforced starting with 2025 — the IRS waived 2021–2024.
  • Never roll an inherited IRA into your own IRA (unless you're the spouse). Non-spouse transfers must be trustee-to-trustee into a properly titled inherited IRA ("John Smith, deceased, FBO Jane Smith"). Taking a check payable to you = the whole thing becomes taxable that year, no do-overs.
  • Inherited Roth: patience literally pays. Withdrawals are tax-free and no annual RMDs apply — every extra year inside the account is tax-free growth, so the math almost always says wait until the deadline year. (Earnings are tax-free once the account has been open 5 years total, counting the owner's time.)
  • Big withdrawal years need estimated taxes. Nothing is withheld unless you ask — a large withdrawal can trigger an underpayment penalty even if you pay in April. Ask the custodian to withhold, or pay quarterly estimates / use the prior-year safe harbor.
  • Low-income years are gold. A layoff, retirement-before-Social-Security gap, or sabbatical year is exactly when to pull extra from the inherited account at cheap rates — this is the whole reason timing beats autopilot.
  • Check the state angle. Illinois, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania generally don't tax these withdrawals at all; a dozen more states have age-gated retirement exclusions that can shelter part. If a move is coming, timing withdrawals around it can be worth real money.