Roth IRA withdrawal rules
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
A Roth IRA is the most flexible retirement account in the US system, and also the one whose rules people most often half-remember. The flexibility is real, but it is limited to a specific slice of the account. Knowing which slice you are touching is the whole thing.
The ordering rules
The IRS does not let you choose which money you are withdrawing. It applies a fixed sequence:
| What comes out | When it is free | Income tax? | 10% penalty? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular contributions | Any age, any reason | No | No |
| Converted amounts | 5 years since that conversion | No | Yes, if under 5 years and below 59.5 |
| Earnings, qualified | 59.5 and 5-year clock met | No | No |
| Earnings, non-qualified | Before either is met | Yes | Yes, unless an exception applies |
Because contributions come out first, a modest withdrawal from a long-standing account is usually entirely tax free. If you have contributed $40,000 over the years and the balance is $70,000, the first $40,000 out is your own money returning to you.
The five-year clock, and why there is more than one
Two different five-year rules exist and they are frequently confused.
The contribution clock governs whether earnings are tax free. It starts on January 1 of the tax year of your first-ever Roth IRA contribution, and there is only one, covering every Roth IRA you will ever own. Once it has run, it never restarts.
The conversion clock is separate and there is one for each conversion. Converted money withdrawn within five years, while you are under 59 and a half, is hit with the 10% penalty even though it was already taxed at conversion. The rule exists to stop people using conversions to sidestep the early withdrawal penalty.
Exceptions to the 10% penalty
These waive the penalty on earnings. Most do not waive the income tax:
First home purchase, up to a $10,000 lifetime limit. First-time means you have not owned a home in the past two years. If the five-year clock has also run, this one is fully tax free.
Qualified higher education expenses for you, a spouse, a child or a grandchild.
Total and permanent disability, and death, where the account passes to beneficiaries.
Unreimbursed medical expenses above a percentage of adjusted gross income, and health insurance premiums while unemployed.
Substantially equal periodic payments, a fixed schedule of withdrawals that must run for five years or until 59 and a half, whichever is longer. Breaking the schedule retroactively applies the penalties.
No required minimum distributions, and what that is worth
Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s force withdrawals from a set age whether or not you need the money, which pushes up taxable income exactly when many retirees would rather it stayed low. Roth IRAs have no such requirement during your lifetime.
That makes a Roth useful as the account you spend last. It can keep compounding untouched while you draw on taxable and pre-tax accounts first. Beneficiaries who inherit it generally must empty it within ten years, but they inherit it tax free.
Try it in Walnut
Walnut reads the positions in the brokerage account holding your Roth, so before you sell anything you can see what you actually own and how a withdrawal would change the mix.
The mistake worth avoiding
Withdrawing contributions is permitted, and it is still usually a bad idea. Money taken out cannot be replaced beyond that year's contribution limit, so a $20,000 withdrawal does not just cost you $20,000. It costs you every tax-free dollar that $20,000 would have compounded into, and that room is gone permanently.
The flexibility is best understood as insurance you hope not to use, not as a reason to treat the account as savings.
Inherited Roth IRAs
A Roth IRA passes to beneficiaries with the tax already paid, so withdrawals are generally tax free to them too. What changed under the SECURE Act is the timeline.
Most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account within ten years of the original owner's death. There is usually no annual requirement inside that window, so an heir can leave it invested and withdraw everything in year ten, capturing a further decade of tax-free growth.
A surviving spouse has more options, including treating the account as their own, which restarts none of the restrictions and keeps it out of the ten-year rule entirely. Certain other beneficiaries, including minor children of the owner and disabled or chronically ill heirs, also fall outside it.
One trap worth naming: the five-year clock follows the account, not the heir. If the original owner opened their first Roth less than five years before dying, earnings withdrawn by the beneficiary before that clock runs can still be taxable.
Sources
Ordering rules, the five-year clocks and the full list of exceptions are in IRS Publication 590-B. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser. This guide is educational and not personalized tax or investment advice; anything with a tax consequence is worth confirming with a tax professional.
FAQ
Can I withdraw from a Roth IRA at any time?
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You can withdraw your own contributions at any age, for any reason, with no tax and no penalty. You already paid tax on that money. Earnings are the part that is restricted: taking them before 59 and a half, or before the five-year clock is up, usually means income tax plus a 10% penalty.
What order does money come out of a Roth IRA?
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The IRS applies a fixed order regardless of what you intend: regular contributions first, then converted amounts oldest to newest, then earnings last. This ordering is why small withdrawals are usually tax free, since you have to exhaust everything you put in before you reach any growth.
Are there exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty?
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Yes. The main ones are a first home purchase up to a $10,000 lifetime cap, qualified higher education expenses, total and permanent disability, death, unreimbursed medical expenses above a threshold, health insurance while unemployed, and substantially equal periodic payments. Most waive the penalty but not the income tax on earnings.
Does a Roth IRA have required minimum distributions?
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No. Unlike Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, a Roth IRA never forces you to withdraw during your lifetime. You can leave it untouched indefinitely, which is why it is often the account people intend to pass on. Inherited Roth IRAs generally do have to be emptied within ten years.