acalculator

What 72(t) payment can I take?

Type your account balance, your age this year and, for the fixed methods, an interest rate. The calculator shows the yearly 72(t) payment under each IRS method.

Your numbers

Method
Needed only for a rate over 5%. The page has no live rates; type it.
Yearly payment
$30,156.12

Under the Amortization method, a balance of $500,000.00 at age 50 allows a 72(t) payment of $30,156.12 a year.

Monthly equivalent
$2,513.01
Divisor used
36.2
Later years
Fixed: the same payment every year (one switch to the RMD method is allowed).

Yearly payment: $30,156.12. Under the Amortization method, a balance of $500,000.00 at age 50 allows a 72(t) payment of $30,156.12 a year.

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Works out the yearly 72(t) substantially equal periodic payment (SEPP) from a retirement account under the RMD, fixed amortization and fixed annuitization methods of IRS Notice 2022-6.

Example with the default inputs (Method Amortization, Account balance $500,000.00, Age this year 50, Life expectancy table Single Life, Interest rate 5%): Under the Amortization method, a balance of $500,000.00 at age 50 allows a 72(t) payment of $30,156.12 a year.

Method: RMD: balance ÷ life expectancy. Amortization: balance × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n), n = life expectancy. Annuitization: balance ÷ Σ v^t × ₜpₓ for t = 0 to 120 − x, with v = 1 ÷ (1 + i) and ₜpₓ the chance of living t more years from the mortality rates.

  • Life expectancy is read for your age on your birthday in the first distribution year; ages 120 and over use the last row.
  • Amortization pays at the end of each year over n years (n may be fractional); annuitization pays $1 a year for life from the current age, with nobody living past 120. Notice 2022-6 sets neither timing; these are this page’s conventions.
  • The Joint and Last Survivor Table is not offered.
  • This is not tax advice: changing the payments before the later of 5 years or age 59½ brings back the 10% additional tax with interest.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Method RMD, Account balance $500,000.00, Age this year 50, Life expectancy table Single Life gives Yearly payment $13,812.15, Divisor used 36.2.Source: IRS Notice 2022-6, Determination of substantially equal periodic payments, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2022-5 (§3.01 the three methods; §3.02 the tables, the interest rate and the mortality rates). https://www.irs.gov/irb/2022-05_IRB#NOT-2022-6, retrieved 2026-10-02; Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9 (b) Single Life Table and (e) mortality rates, Cornell LII copy. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.401(a)(9)-9, retrieved 2026-10-02
  2. Method RMD, Account balance $500,000.00, Age this year 50, Life expectancy table Uniform Lifetime gives Yearly payment $10,309.28, Divisor used 48.5.Source: 500,000 ÷ 48.5 = $10,309.28 (Uniform Lifetime Table, Notice 2022-6 Appendix A); IRS Notice 2022-6, Determination of substantially equal periodic payments, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2022-5 (§3.01 the three methods; §3.02 the tables, the interest rate and the mortality rates). https://www.irs.gov/irb/2022-05_IRB#NOT-2022-6, retrieved 2026-10-02
  3. Method Amortization, Account balance $500,000.00, Age this year 50, Life expectancy table Single Life, Interest rate 5% gives Yearly payment $30,156.12, Divisor used 36.2.Source: IRS Notice 2022-6, Determination of substantially equal periodic payments, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2022-5 (§3.01 the three methods; §3.02 the tables, the interest rate and the mortality rates). https://www.irs.gov/irb/2022-05_IRB#NOT-2022-6, retrieved 2026-10-02; IRS, Substantially equal periodic payments (payments continue for the later of 5 years or age 59½; rate at most the greater of 5% or 120% of the federal mid-term rate). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/substantially-equal-periodic-payments, retrieved 2026-10-02
  4. Method Annuitization, Account balance $500,000.00, Age this year 50, Interest rate 5% gives Yearly payment $29,653.39, Divisor used 16.861477.Source: IRS Notice 2022-6, Determination of substantially equal periodic payments, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2022-5 (§3.01 the three methods; §3.02 the tables, the interest rate and the mortality rates). https://www.irs.gov/irb/2022-05_IRB#NOT-2022-6, retrieved 2026-10-02; Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(9)-9 (b) Single Life Table and (e) mortality rates, Cornell LII copy. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.401(a)(9)-9, retrieved 2026-10-02
  5. Method Amortization, Account balance $400,000.00, Age this year 55, Life expectancy table Single Life, Interest rate 5.5%, Federal mid-term rate 4.6% gives Highest rate allowed 5.52%.Source: IRS, Substantially equal periodic payments (payments continue for the later of 5 years or age 59½; rate at most the greater of 5% or 120% of the federal mid-term rate). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/substantially-equal-periodic-payments, retrieved 2026-10-02

How it works

B is the account balance, x your age on your birthday in the first distribution year, and i the interest rate as a decimal.

Required minimum distribution (RMD) method. Payment = B ÷ L, where L is the life expectancy for age x in the Single Life Table or the Uniform Lifetime Table. The payment is worked out again every year with that year’s balance and age, from the same table.

Fixed amortization method. The level payment that pays off B over n = L years at rate i, paid at the end of each year:

payment = B × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n), and B ÷ n when i = 0.

n keeps its decimal (36.2 years at age 50). The payment stays the same every year.

Fixed annuitization method. Payment = B ÷ A, where A is the cost of $1 a year for life starting now:

A = Σ vᵗ × ₜpₓ for t = 0, 1, …, 120 − x, with v = 1 ÷ (1 + i), ₀pₓ = 1 and ₜ₊₁pₓ = ₜpₓ × (1 − qₓ₊ₜ).

qₓ is the probability of dying at age x from the mortality table in §1.401(a)(9)-9(e). The first payment is at age x (t = 0), and nobody lives past 120. The payment stays the same every year.

Interest rate limit. i may be at most the greater of 5% and 120% of the federal mid-term rate you type, worked out exactly on the typed decimals. A higher rate gives no answer; a rate over 5% with no mid-term rate typed gives no answer. The RMD method uses no rate.

Notice 2022-6 says how each payment is set but not when in the year it is paid. The end-of-year timing for amortization and the payment at the current age for annuitization are this page’s conventions.

Rules

  • The balance is from $1 to $10 billion, the age a whole number from 10 to 120 (ages 120 and over use the last table row), the rate from 0% to 100%, the mid-term rate from 0% to 50%.
  • Tables, as published: Single Life Table, ages 0 to 120 and over (age 50: 36.2); Uniform Lifetime Table from Notice 2022-6 Appendix A, ages 10 to 120 and over (age 50: 48.5). The Joint and Last Survivor Table is not offered.
  • The monthly figure is the yearly payment ÷ 12.

Output format. Money to the cent, rounded half up; the divisor to 8 significant figures; the highest rate to 2 decimals.

Worked examples by hand

$500,000, age 50, RMD, Single Life. L = 36.2. 500,000 ÷ 36.2 = $13,812.15 a year.

$500,000, age 50, RMD, Uniform Lifetime. L = 48.5. 500,000 ÷ 48.5 = $10,309.28 a year.

$500,000, age 50, amortization at 5%, Single Life. 1.05^−36.2 = 0.170981; 1 − 0.170981 = 0.829019. 500,000 × 0.05 ÷ 0.829019 = $30,156.12 a year.

$500,000, age 50, annuitization at 5%. Summing vᵗ × ₜpₓ from age 50 to 120 with the mortality rates gives A = 16.86148 (worked out in Python 3). 500,000 ÷ 16.86148 = $29,653.39 a year.

Rate limit. Mid-term rate 4.6%: 1.2 × 4.6 = 5.52%, more than 5%, so a 5.5% rate is allowed.

Other questions people ask

What is a 72(t) distribution?

Section 72(t) of the tax code adds a 10% tax to most retirement account withdrawals before age 59½. A series of substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP) is an exception: if you take payments worked out by an IRS method, the 10% additional tax does not apply. Income tax still does.

How long must 72(t) payments continue?

Until the later of 5 years after the first payment or the day you reach age 59½. Changing the payments before then brings back the 10% additional tax on all earlier payments, plus interest.

Which 72(t) method gives the largest payment?

Usually the fixed amortization method, then fixed annuitization, with the RMD method the smallest. For $500,000 at age 50 at 5%: amortization $30,156, annuitization $29,653 and RMD $13,812 a year.

What interest rate can I use?

Any rate up to the greater of 5% or 120% of the federal mid-term rate for either of the two months before the first payment. With a mid-term rate of 4.6%, 120% is 5.52%, so up to 5.52% is allowed. The IRS publishes the rates each month; type the one that applies.

Can I change methods later?

Once: you may switch from the fixed amortization or fixed annuitization method to the RMD method in any later year. Any other change is a modification.

What balance do I use?

For the fixed methods, the account balance on any date from December 31 of the year before the first payment to the day of the first payment. Adding money, transferring or rolling over the account after that date is a modification.