Required minimum distributions: the rules, the table and the math

Key points

• If you were born from 1951 to 1958, RMDs start at 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, they start at 75. 1959 is unsettled (see below).
• Each year’s RMD is last year’s December 31 balance divided by a factor from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At 73 the factor is 26.5.
• A missed RMD costs a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, cut to 10% if you correct it in time.
• An RMD is ordinary income. It can make more of your Social Security taxable and raise your Medicare premiums two years later.

A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the least you must withdraw each year from a traditional IRA or a workplace plan such as a 401(k) once you reach a set age. In the IRS’s words: “You cannot keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely.”

This guide covers federal rules, not state income tax.

We checked every rule and figure against the tax code, Treasury and Social Security regulations, and IRS and CMS publications on October 27, 2026. They are listed at the end. To run your own numbers, use our RMD calculator.

When do RMDs start? RMD age by birth year

Your RMD age depends on when you were born.

Year of birth	RMD age	Year of your first RMD
Before July 1, 1949	70½	The year you turned 70½
July 1, 1949, to December 31, 1950	72	The year you turned 72
1951 to 1958	73	The year you turn 73 (2024 to 2031)
1959	73 under proposed regulations	2032
1960 or later	75	The year you turn 75 (2035 or later)

You reach 73 on your 73rd birthday. The calendar year that birthday falls in is your first RMD year, even if the birthday is in December.

Born in 1959? The statute gives age 73 to people who turn 72 after 2022 and 73 before 2033, and age 75 to people who turn 74 after 2032. Someone born in 1959 fits both.

The final regulations leave the 1959 paragraph blank, marked “Reserved”. Proposed regulations published in July 2024 would set it at 73. When we checked the eCFR on October 27, 2026, the paragraph was still reserved.

The first RMD can wait until April 1

For an IRA, your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after the year you reach your RMD age. The IRS calls that date your required beginning date.

Every RMD after the first is due by December 31 of its own year.

The first RMD still counts for the year you reached your RMD age. Waiting moves the deadline, not the year.

The two-RMDs-in-one-year trap

If you use the April 1 extension, your second RMD is due by December 31 of that same year. Two RMDs land in one tax year.

Example. You were born in 1953, so you turn 73 in 2026. Your IRA was worth $400,000 on December 31, 2025.

• 2026 RMD: $400,000 ÷ 26.5 = $15,094.34.
• Suppose you wait until March 2027 to take it. Your 2027 RMD is still due by December 31, 2027.
• Say the IRA was worth $415,000 on December 31, 2026. The 2027 RMD is $415,000 ÷ 25.5 = $16,274.51.
• Both are 2027 income: $31,368.85 in one year.

For an IRA, a withdrawal made after December 31 does not reduce the December 31 balance. So the March 2027 withdrawal does not lower the $415,000 used for the second RMD.

Taking the first RMD by December 31 of the year you reach your RMD age puts the two RMDs in separate tax years. The IRS notes this on its RMD page.

Which accounts have RMDs?

The RMD rules apply to these accounts while the owner is alive:

• Traditional IRAs
• SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
• 401(k) plans
• 403(b) plans
• 457(b) plans
• Profit-sharing plans and other defined contribution plans

Two kinds of account have no RMDs while the owner is alive:

• Roth IRAs. The IRS says you are not required to take distributions from your Roth IRA at any age.
• Roth money inside a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b), which the law calls a designated Roth account. These had RMDs until 2023. A 2022 law removed them for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.

People who inherit a Roth IRA or a designated Roth account do face RMD rules.

Still working? The RMD exception for your 401(k)

A 401(k), 403(b) or other workplace plan can let you delay RMDs until April 1 of the year after the year you retire, if that is later than the year you reach your RMD age.

Four limits apply:

• It covers only the plan of the employer you still work for.
• The plan must allow it. A plan document can require RMDs to start at your RMD age even if you are still employed.
• It does not apply if you own more than 5% of the business (the law calls this a 5-percent owner). Ownership is tested for the plan year that ends in the year you reach your RMD age.
• It never applies to IRAs, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. IRA RMDs start on schedule even if you are still working.

How to calculate your RMD

The formula has two inputs:

1. The account balance on December 31 of the previous year.
2. The factor for your age, from the Uniform Lifetime Table below. The IRS calls it the applicable denominator.

Divide the balance by the factor. Use the age you reach on your birthday in the RMD year.

Example. You turn 76 in 2026. Your IRA was worth $320,000 on December 31, 2025. The factor for 76 is 23.7.

$320,000 ÷ 23.7 = $13,502.11

That is the least you must withdraw by December 31, 2026.

The IRS example in Publication 590-B: $100,000 at age 75 ÷ 24.6 = $4,065.

For an IRA, contributions and withdrawals made after December 31 do not change the RMD figured from that balance. The one adjustment is for money in transit on December 31, a rollover or a transfer between IRAs: it is added to the receiving IRA’s balance. The custodian must tell you the RMD amount by January 31, or offer to calculate it.

Our RMD calculator does this division for you and shows the tax and Medicare effects.

RMD table: the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table

This is the table most owners use. It applies if you are unmarried, if your spouse is not your sole beneficiary, or if your spouse is not more than 10 years younger than you.

The figures come from the regulation, 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9(c), and match Table III in Publication 590-B. The table has applied since 2022.

Age	Factor	Age	Factor
72	27.4	97	7.8
73	26.5	98	7.3
74	25.5	99	6.8
75	24.6	100	6.4
76	23.7	101	6.0
77	22.9	102	5.6
78	22.0	103	5.2
79	21.1	104	4.9
80	20.2	105	4.6
81	19.4	106	4.3
82	18.5	107	4.1
83	17.7	108	3.9
84	16.8	109	3.7
85	16.0	110	3.5
86	15.2	111	3.4
87	14.4	112	3.3
88	13.7	113	3.1
89	12.9	114	3.0
90	12.2	115	2.9
91	11.5	116	2.8
92	10.8	117	2.7
93	10.1	118	2.5
94	9.5	119	2.3
95	8.9	120 and over	2.0
96	8.4

The factor shrinks each year, so the share you must take grows. At 73 it is 1 ÷ 26.5, about 3.8% of the balance. At 90 it is 1 ÷ 12.2, about 8.2%.

If your spouse is more than 10 years younger

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your IRA and is more than 10 years younger than you, you use a different table: the Joint and Last Survivor Table (Table II in Publication 590-B). It has a factor for every pair of ages, so we do not print it here.

It produces a larger factor than the Uniform Lifetime Table at every owner age below 116, so the RMD is smaller.

Example. You turn 73 in 2026. Your spouse, the sole beneficiary, turns 60. Your IRA held $500,000 on December 31, 2025.

• Uniform Lifetime Table: $500,000 ÷ 26.5 = $18,867.92
• Joint and Last Survivor Table, ages 73 and 60: $500,000 ÷ 28.6 = $17,482.52

The joint table lowers the RMD by $1,385.40.

Marital status for this rule is fixed on January 1. If your spouse is the beneficiary on January 1, they count for the whole year, even after a divorce or death later that year.

One catch: IRS instructions allow a custodian’s RMD statement to assume your spouse is not more than 10 years younger. If this rule applies to you, the figure on the statement can be higher than the law requires.

RMDs from several IRAs and 401(k)s

You calculate an RMD for each account. Where the money may come from depends on the account type.

• Traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Add up the separate RMDs and take the total from any one or more of your IRAs.
• 403(b) accounts. The same, among your 403(b)s only.
• 401(k)s and other workplace plans. Each plan’s RMD must come out of that plan.
• No crossing between types. An IRA withdrawal does not count toward a 403(b) RMD, and a Roth IRA withdrawal does not count toward a traditional IRA RMD.
• Inherited IRAs combine only with other IRAs inherited from the same person, never with your own.

Example. You turn 75 in 2026, so the factor is 24.6. On December 31, 2025, you held:

• IRA 1, $250,000: RMD $10,162.60
• IRA 2, $90,000: RMD $3,658.54
• A 401(k), $180,000: RMD $7,317.07

The two IRA RMDs total $13,821.14, and that can come from either IRA or both. The $7,317.07 must come from the 401(k). Taking the full $21,138.21 from IRA 1 would leave the 401(k) RMD unmet.

RMD deadlines

• First RMD: April 1 of the year after the year you reach your RMD age (or retire, under the still-working exception).
• Every later RMD: December 31.
• Installments are allowed. Monthly or quarterly withdrawals work if the year’s total reaches the RMD by the deadline.
• No credit for extra. Taking more than the RMD this year does not reduce next year’s RMD. The one exception: money taken in the year you reach your RMD age counts toward the first RMD due the following April 1.
• No rollovers or Roth conversions. An RMD cannot be rolled over to another IRA or plan, and it cannot be converted to a Roth IRA.

Missed an RMD: the penalty and the fix

If you take less than your RMD, the shortfall is subject to a 25% excise tax. Until a 2022 law changed it, the rate was 50%.

The tax drops to 10% if, within the correction window, you take the missed amount and file a return reporting the tax. For a 401(k) or other workplace plan, the catch-up withdrawal comes from that plan. For IRAs it can come from any of your IRAs, and for 403(b)s from any of your 403(b)s. The window closes on the earliest of three dates:

• the date the IRS mails a notice of deficiency for the tax
• the date the IRS assesses the tax
• the last day of the second taxable year after the year of the shortfall (December 31, 2028, for a 2026 shortfall). A missed first RMD counts as a shortfall in the year of its April 1 deadline.

Example. You missed a $12,000 RMD. At 25% the tax is $3,000. Corrected within the window, it is $1,200.

The fix has three parts:

1. Take the missed amount.
2. Report the tax on Form 5329, Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts.
3. If the shortfall came from reasonable error and you are taking reasonable steps to fix it, ask for a waiver. You attach a statement of explanation and write “RC” and the amount you want waived next to the shortfall line of Form 5329 (lines 54a and 54b on the 2025 form; check the line numbers on the form for your tax year). The IRS then decides whether to grant it.

A new IRS correction program for IRAs takes effect on May 1, 2027 (Revenue Procedure 2026-33). It covers failures caused by a custodian’s or other service provider’s inadvertent error, including missed RMDs.

Tax withholding on RMDs

An RMD is not an eligible rollover distribution, so the mandatory 20% withholding that applies to some plan payouts does not apply.

For a withdrawal from an IRA, federal withholding defaults to 10%. That holds even if you take your RMD in monthly or quarterly installments, because the IRS treats IRA withdrawals you can take on demand as one-off (nonperiodic) payments. Form W-4R lets you choose any rate from 0% to 100%.

Form W-4P is for periodic payments, such as installments from a workplace plan paid at regular intervals over more than a year.

For the estimated-tax penalty, tax withheld during the year is treated as paid in four equal parts on the four due dates, unless you choose to use the actual dates. That includes tax withheld from a December RMD.

Giving your RMD to charity (QCDs)

From age 70½, your IRA trustee can send money directly to a qualifying charity. That is a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). Donor-advised funds do not qualify, and neither do supporting organizations.

• Limit: up to $111,000 for 2026, up from $108,000 for 2025. If you file jointly, your spouse can also exclude QCDs up to the limit from their own IRA. If you deducted IRA contributions for years after you reached 70½, part of a QCD can become taxable. The 2027 figure had not been published on October 27, 2026.
• Not taxable: the QCD is left out of your income, and you cannot also deduct it as a charitable gift.
• Counts toward your RMD.
• Direct only: the money must go from the trustee to the charity, and you need the same acknowledgment you would need for a deduction.
• Not from an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA.

Example. You turn 77 in 2026 with $229,000 in your IRA on December 31, 2025. Your RMD is $229,000 ÷ 22.9 = $10,000. If $4,000 goes straight to a charity as a QCD, you need only $6,000 more to meet the RMD. If your IRA holds no after-tax money, only that $6,000 is taxable.

Inherited IRA RMD rules

Different rules apply once the owner has died. These are the rules for deaths in 2020 or later. Who inherits is set by the beneficiary designation filed with the account.

The year of death. If the owner had an RMD for that year and had not taken it, the beneficiary must take it. The IRS waives the penalty automatically if the beneficiary takes it by their tax filing deadline for that year, including extensions, or by the end of the following year if that is later.

Eligible designated beneficiaries get the most room. They are the surviving spouse, the owner’s child under 21, a disabled or chronically ill person, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner. They can generally take withdrawals over their life expectancy.

Most other named beneficiaries, including most adult children, follow the 10-year rule. The account must be empty by December 31 of the year containing the 10th anniversary of the death. For a death in 2025, that is December 31, 2035.

Annual RMDs inside the 10 years. If the owner died on or after their required beginning date, the beneficiary must also take an RMD each year after the year of death until the account is emptied. If the owner died before that date, nothing is required until the 10th year.

The IRS did not assert the penalty for missed annual RMDs of this kind for 2021 through 2024. The final regulations apply from 2025.

A surviving spouse can treat the IRA as their own, roll it into their own IRA, or remain a beneficiary. Treated as their own, the RMDs follow the spouse’s own age and the Uniform Lifetime Table. If the owner died before their required beginning date and the spouse is the sole beneficiary, a spouse who stays a beneficiary can wait to start RMDs until the year the owner would have reached their RMD age.

Inherited Roth IRAs follow the rules for an owner who died before the required beginning date. Under the 10-year rule, that means no annual RMDs, only the 10-year deadline.

Inherited 401(k)s follow the same framework, but a plan’s terms can narrow the choices. For example, if the owner died before their required beginning date, a plan can require the 10-year rule for some or all eligible designated beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries pay income tax on taxable withdrawals from an inherited traditional IRA.

How an RMD is taxed

An RMD is taxed as ordinary income, at your regular income tax rates, in the year you take it. The exception is any part that returns money that was already taxed (your basis).

It stacks on top of your other income.

It can push income into a higher bracket

Example. A married couple filing jointly has $85,000 of taxable income in 2026 before an RMD. For 2026 the 12% bracket for joint filers ends at $100,800. A $30,000 RMD puts:

• $15,800 in the 12% bracket: $1,896 of tax
• $14,200 in the 22% bracket: $3,124 of tax

Federal tax on the RMD: $5,020, assuming their deductions stay the same and before the Social Security effect below.

It can make more of your Social Security taxable

The IRS test adds half your Social Security benefits to all your other income, including tax-exempt interest and RMDs. Above $32,000 for joint filers ($25,000 for single filers), some of your benefits may be taxable. Above $44,000 ($34,000 for single filers), up to 85% can be.

Example. A married couple filing jointly receives $40,000 in Social Security and has $10,000 of other income. Half the benefits plus other income is $30,000. That is under $32,000, so none of the benefits is taxable.

Add a $20,000 RMD and the figure is $50,000. On the IRS worksheet in Publication 915, $11,100 of their benefits becomes taxable. So the $20,000 RMD adds $31,100 to their gross income.

An RMD can also shrink the new deduction for people 65 and older: $6,000 per eligible person for 2025 through 2028, phasing out above modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 ($150,000 for joint filers).

It can raise your Medicare premiums two years later

Medicare Part B and Part D premiums carry a surcharge, the income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA), once your modified adjusted gross income passes set thresholds. For this purpose, modified adjusted gross income is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest and a few other items.

Social Security uses your tax return from two years earlier: 2026 premiums are based on 2024 income. So a 2026 RMD can raise your 2028 premiums.

CMS had not published 2027 thresholds on October 27, 2026. It released the 2026 figures on November 14, 2025. We use the 2026 thresholds to show the mechanics.

Example. A single filer has $100,000 of modified adjusted gross income in 2026 before the RMD. A $15,000 RMD lifts it to $115,000. Using the 2026 table as a stand-in for 2028, income above $109,000 ($218,000 for joint filers) and up to $137,000 ($274,000 joint) adds $81.20 a month to Part B and $14.50 a month to Part D. That is $95.70 a month, or $1,148.40 over a year.

Each threshold works as a cliff: $1 over the line brings the whole surcharge for that tier.

After a major life-changing event, such as the death of a spouse, Social Security can use a more recent year’s income if it lowers or removes the surcharge.

RMDs from a gold or other self-directed IRA

A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds the coins and bullion the tax law allows, such as certain U.S. gold coins and certain gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion. The IRS says the coins must be in the possession of the custodian or trustee.

If it is a traditional gold IRA, the RMD rules above apply unchanged. A Roth gold IRA has no RMDs for the owner.

The value that counts. The RMD uses the account’s value on December 31 of the previous year. IRS instructions make the custodian responsible for valuing every IRA asset at fair market value each year, including assets with no ready market price, and for reporting the December 31 value on Form 5498.

Two ways to take it.

• In cash. Metal is sold inside the IRA and the cash is paid out to you.
• In kind. The metal itself is distributed to you. IRS instructions tell the custodian to report property on Form 1099-R at its fair market value on the date of distribution. That is the amount distributed: it counts toward the RMD and is taxed as ordinary income.

Example. You turn 76 in 2026. The custodian valued your gold IRA at $150,000 on December 31, 2025. Your RMD is $150,000 ÷ 23.7 = $6,329.11.

That dollar figure is fixed on December 31. If you take coins, their value on the day they leave the IRA must be at least $6,329.11. If metal prices have fallen since December 31, that takes more coins. If prices have risen, it takes fewer.

Once distributed, the metal is no longer an IRA asset.

Because IRA RMDs can be totaled, the gold IRA’s RMD can come from another traditional IRA instead. And if you take possession of IRA coins yourself, the IRS treats them as distributed.

Common RMD mistakes

• Using today’s balance instead of last year’s December 31 balance.
• Waiting until April 1 without noticing it puts two RMDs in one tax year.
• Taking a 401(k) RMD from an IRA. Plan RMDs come from each plan.
• Expecting this year’s extra withdrawal to reduce next year’s RMD.
• Trying to roll over or Roth-convert an RMD.
• Assuming the custodian’s figure uses the joint table when your spouse is more than 10 years younger and your sole beneficiary.
• Skipping annual RMDs on an inherited IRA when the owner had reached the required beginning date.
• Writing the charity check yourself instead of having the trustee pay the charity.
• Forgetting that metal taken in kind is valued on the day it leaves the IRA.
• Not filing Form 5329 after a miss.

About this guide

Written by the Diversify Guy editorial desk. Diversify Guy is a pen name. It is the byline of our editorial team, not a single individual. We do not publish personal trading records or claim to be your adviser. We tell you where every figure came from so you can check it yourself. How we work and how we get paid.

This guide explains federal rules. It is not personalized tax or investment advice. Diversify Guy earns affiliate commissions and advertising fees from companies featured elsewhere on the site. This page carries no ads and no affiliate links.

Sources and check dates

All sources were fetched and checked on October 27, 2026.

• IRS Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), for use in preparing 2025 returns: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b and https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590b.pdf
• IRS, Retirement topics: Required minimum distributions (RMDs), page last updated April 8, 2026: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-required-minimum-distributions-rmds
• IRS, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs, page last updated January 29, 2026: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plan-and-ira-required-minimum-distributions-faqs
• IRS, RMD comparison chart (IRAs vs. defined contribution plans), page last updated December 10, 2025: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/rmd-comparison-chart-iras-vs-defined-contribution-plans
• IRS, Retirement topics: Beneficiary, page last updated August 1, 2026: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-beneficiary
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2 (required beginning date and applicable age), eCFR, title 26 up to date as of October 23, 2026: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-2
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-3 (death before the required beginning date, the 10-year rule, optional plan terms): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-3
• Internal Revenue Code section 408(d)(8) (qualified charitable distributions), U.S. Code 2024 edition: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapD-partI-subpartA-sec408.htm
• Internal Revenue Code section 416(i)(1)(B) (5-percent owner), U.S. Code 2024 edition: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapD-partI-subpartB-sec416.htm
• 20 CFR 418.1201 and 418.1205 (a more recent year after a life-changing event): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-20/section-418.1201 and https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-20/section-418.1205
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-4 (eligible designated beneficiaries): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-4
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-5 (account balance, death after the required beginning date, 10-year limit): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-5
• 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9 (Uniform Lifetime Table and Joint and Last Survivor Table): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(a)(9)-9
• 26 CFR 1.408-8 (RMD rules for IRAs, aggregation): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.408-8
• 26 CFR 54.4974-1 (excise tax and waiver): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-54.4974-1
• Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(9)(C)(v), U.S. Code 2024 edition: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapD-partI-subpartA-sec401.htm
• Internal Revenue Code section 402A(d)(5), U.S. Code 2024 edition: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapD-partI-subpartA-sec402A.htm
• Internal Revenue Code section 4974, U.S. Code 2024 edition: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title26/html/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleD-chap43-sec4974.htm
• Final RMD regulations, T.D. 10001, Federal Register, July 19, 2024: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/19/2024-14542/required-minimum-distributions
• Proposed RMD regulations, REG-103529-23, Federal Register, July 19, 2024: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/19/2024-14543/required-minimum-distributions
• IRS Notice 2024-35: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-24-35.pdf
• IRS Notice 2025-67, 2026 amounts relating to retirement plans and IRAs: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf
• IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, 2026 tax rate tables: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
• IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-33 and news release IR-2026-126, October 22, 2026: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-26-33.pdf and https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-update-retirement-plan-correction-program-and-establish-correction-program-for-individual-retirement-accounts
• 2025 Instructions for Form 5329: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5329.pdf
• 2026 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099r.pdf
• 2026 Form W-4R: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4r.pdf
• IRS Publication 505 (2026), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p505.pdf
• IRS Publication 590-A (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf
• IRS Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p915.pdf
• IRS, tax deductions for working Americans and seniors (senior deduction): https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/working-families-tax-cuts-tax-deductions-for-working-americans-and-seniors
• CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A & B premiums and deductibles fact sheet, released November 14, 2025: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2026-medicare-parts-b-premiums-deductibles
• Medicare.gov, 2026 Medicare costs: https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11579-medicare-costs.pdf
• 20 CFR 418.1010 and 418.1135 (IRMAA definitions and the two-year lookback): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-20/section-418.1010 and https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-20/section-418.1135