Uniform Lifetime Table
Category: Retirement & health
IRS life-expectancy table used by many account owners to compute required minimum distributions. A different table applies when a spouse beneficiary is more than 10 years younger.
How Uniform Lifetime Table fits 2026 planning
Uniform Lifetime Table sits inside retirement contribution limits, distribution timing, and how pre-tax vs Roth choices change AGI. For tax year 2026, US Tax Tools treats year-scoped constants (brackets, contribution limits, wage bases, credit schedules) as separate datasets — so explanations of Uniform Lifetime Table should be read with the same year selected in any linked calculator.
Category focus: Retirement & health. Readers usually land on this page while comparing a paycheck estimate, a credit phaseout, or a retirement contribution room figure that depends on understanding Uniform Lifetime Table first.
Worked example
Dividing a $500,000 year-end balance by the age-75 divisor produces that year’s RMD for a typical unmarried owner.
Treat the example as a teaching sketch, not a filing position. Change filing status, state residency, or mid-year events and the same definition of Uniform Lifetime Table can produce a different cash outcome even when the glossary text stays the same.
What to watch for
Definitions of Uniform Lifetime Table can differ slightly across IRS publications, SSA rules, Marketplace subsidy worksheets, and state agencies. When two programs both say “income,” confirm which modification rules apply — MAGI for one credit is not always MAGI for another.
Legislation and inflation adjustments can move the dollar thresholds around Uniform Lifetime Table without renaming the concept. Prefer the effective date on the primary source (Rev. Proc., SSA notice, USDA table, or state DOR bulletin) over any blog summary — including this one if a later notice supersedes it.
Confirm how Uniform Lifetime Table appears on your forms by reading the IRS instructions for the schedules that match your facts. Educational definitions here cannot capture every exception or state overlay.
Next step
When you are ready to model numbers, open the Uniform Lifetime Table related calculator on US Tax Tools. Engines keep tax-year datasets separate so a 2025 habit does not silently reuse a 2026 constant.
Related reading: Tax insights for longer 2026 explainers, Methodology for how engines store cents and traces, and Disclaimer for educational-use limits.