Updated July 28, 2026. Quick answer: The amortization and annuitization methods need an interest rate, and Notice 2022-6 permits using a stated floor rather than being limited to the market-linked figure. A higher permitted rate produces a higher payment from the same balance.
Why the rate drives the payment
Both fixed methods discount a stream of payments. A higher assumed rate produces a larger annual payment from the same account balance — so the rate you are permitted to use directly determines how much income the schedule can generate.
What Notice 2022-6 changed
When market rates were very low, the linked figure produced payments too small to be useful for many people. The notice permits a floor, so a schedule can be built on the floor rate when the market-linked alternative is lower.
The permitted rate is generally described as the greater of a stated floor or a figure derived from published federal mid-term rates for specified recent months. Those published rates change monthly, so this page does not quote a current number — confirm the applicable figure for your start month before calculating.
The trade-off
A higher rate means more income now and faster depletion. The account has to sustain the payment for the full duration, and you cannot reduce it except via the one permitted switch. Maximising the payment is not the same as choosing well.
Sources
IRC §72(t) (10% additional tax and its exceptions); IRC §72(t)(2)(A)(iv) (substantially equal periodic payments); IRC §72(t)(2)(A)(v) (separation from service at 55); Rev. Rul. 2002-62; Notice 2022-6. Cross-checked July 2026 against professional analyses. Interest rates published for these calculations change monthly and are described structurally here rather than quoted.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax advice, and a SEPP schedule is unusually unforgiving of small errors.