You can withdraw your contributions from a Roth IRA at any age, tax-free and penalty-free. Earnings, however, follow different rules: to withdraw them without taxes or penalties, you generally need to be at least 59½ and have held the account for at least five years. That distinction between contributions and earnings is the key to understanding Roth IRA withdrawals at every stage of life.
Contributions Come Out First, Always Tax-Free
Money you personally contributed to a Roth IRA can be pulled out whenever you want, regardless of your age or how long the account has been open. You already paid income tax on those dollars before they went in, so the IRS doesn’t tax them again on the way out, and there’s no 10% early withdrawal penalty either.
If you have multiple Roth IRAs, the IRS treats them all as a single account for withdrawal purposes. The ordering rules dictate that your contributions come out first, followed by any converted amounts, and finally earnings. This means you’d have to withdraw every dollar of contributions and conversions before the IRS considers you to be touching earnings. That ordering works heavily in your favor if you need cash before 59½.
When Earnings Become Tax-Free
Earnings, meaning the investment growth inside your Roth IRA, get the best tax treatment only when a withdrawal qualifies as a “qualified distribution.” Two conditions must both be true:
- You’re at least 59½ (or meet another qualifying exception like disability or death).
- Your Roth IRA has been open for at least five years. The clock starts on January 1 of the tax year you made your first contribution. So if you opened and funded a Roth IRA in April 2023 for the 2022 tax year, the five-year period began January 1, 2022, and ends January 1, 2027.
Meet both conditions and every dollar you withdraw, contributions and earnings alike, comes out completely free of federal income tax and penalties. Miss either one and earnings may be taxed as ordinary income plus hit with a 10% early withdrawal penalty.
The Five-Year Rule in Practice
The five-year rule catches some people off guard, especially those who open a Roth IRA later in life. If you open your first Roth IRA at age 58, turning 59½ alone isn’t enough. You’d need to wait until you’ve held the account for five tax years before earnings withdrawals qualify for tax-free treatment. In that scenario, you’d reach full access around age 63.
There’s also a separate five-year clock for Roth conversions. If you roll money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, each conversion has its own five-year waiting period before the converted amount can be withdrawn penalty-free (if you’re under 59½). Once you pass 59½, the conversion-specific waiting period no longer matters for penalty purposes.
Withdrawing Earnings Before 59½
If you pull out earnings before age 59½ and don’t meet the five-year rule, you’ll owe income tax on those earnings plus a 10% federal penalty. But the IRS carves out a number of exceptions that waive the 10% penalty, even if you’re young. Earnings withdrawn early under these exceptions are still taxed as income, but you avoid the extra penalty hit:
- First-time home purchase: Up to $10,000 in earnings, a lifetime cap, can come out penalty-free to buy, build, or rebuild a first home.
- Higher education expenses: Qualified tuition and related costs for you, your spouse, children, or grandchildren.
- Disability: Total and permanent disability as defined by the IRS.
- Unreimbursed medical expenses: Amounts exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
- Health insurance premiums while unemployed: If you’ve received unemployment compensation for at least 12 consecutive weeks.
- Birth or adoption: Up to $5,000 per child for qualified expenses.
- Substantially equal periodic payments: A series of roughly equal annual withdrawals calculated using IRS-approved methods, taken over at least five years or until you reach 59½, whichever is longer.
- Military active duty: Certain distributions to qualified reservists called to active duty.
- Federally declared disasters: Up to $22,000 for qualified individuals who suffer an economic loss from a declared disaster in their area.
Two newer exceptions took effect starting in 2024. Victims of domestic abuse can withdraw up to the lesser of $10,000 or 50% of the account balance, penalty-free, within one year of the abuse. And one emergency personal expense withdrawal of up to $1,000 is allowed per calendar year for unforeseeable financial needs. Both of these can be repaid within three years, and if repaid, the amount is treated as though the withdrawal never happened.
No Required Minimum Distributions
Unlike a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA never forces you to take withdrawals during your lifetime. There are no required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73 or any other age. You can leave your money invested and growing tax-free for as long as you live, which makes the Roth IRA a powerful tool for estate planning or simply a backup fund you hope never to need.
Inherited Roth IRA Rules
If you inherit a Roth IRA from someone other than your spouse, the withdrawal rules change. Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited after 2019 must empty the entire account by the end of the 10th year following the original owner’s death. There’s no annual withdrawal requirement within that decade, but every dollar must be out by the deadline.
Spouse beneficiaries have more flexibility. They can treat the inherited Roth as their own, which means they follow the standard rules described above and enjoy the same lifetime freedom from required distributions. Certain other beneficiaries, including minor children of the deceased, disabled individuals, and those not more than 10 years younger than the original owner, may qualify for extended distribution timelines rather than the strict 10-year rule.
One important detail: the five-year rule still applies to inherited Roth IRAs. If the original owner hadn’t held the account for five years before death, beneficiaries need to wait out the remainder of that period before earnings come out tax-free.
A Quick Reference by Age
- Any age: Contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free, no waiting period.
- Under 59½: Earnings are taxed and penalized at 10% unless a specific exception applies.
- 59½ or older, account open less than five years: No 10% penalty on earnings, but earnings are still taxed as income.
- 59½ or older, account open five years or more: Everything comes out tax-free and penalty-free. This is the full green light.