How to Withdraw Money From Your Roth IRA

You can withdraw your contributions anytime without penalty, but earnings come with age and holding-period rules

A Roth IRA lets you pull out the money you've deposited—your contributions—at any time, for any reason, with no tax or penalty. The earnings those contributions generated are a different story. You can access earnings before age 59½ only in specific situations, and you must have held the account for at least five tax years. If you don't meet both conditions, the IRS charges a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the earnings portion plus income tax on that amount.

The five-year rule applies to your entire Roth IRA history, not to each deposit. Once you've held any Roth IRA for five tax years, the clock is satisfied for all your Roth accounts. This matters because many people open multiple Roth IRAs over time, and the IRS counts them as one account for this purpose.

Key Takeaways

• Contributions (the money you put in) can be withdrawn anytime, tax-free and penalty-free, regardless of your age.
• Earnings (investment growth) withdrawn before age 59½ trigger a 10% penalty plus income tax unless you meet a narrow exception like disability, death, or a first-time home purchase up to $10,000.
• The five-year holding period must be satisfied before you can withdraw earnings penalty-free, even if you're over 59½.
• The IRS treats all your Roth IRAs as a single account when calculating the five-year rule and determining how much of a withdrawal is contributions versus earnings.

How the IRS separates contributions from earnings on a withdrawal

When you withdraw money from a Roth IRA, the IRS uses a specific order to determine what you're taking out. You withdraw contributions first, then earnings. This is called the pro-rata rule, and it applies even if you have multiple Roth IRAs or if you've made both regular contributions and backdoor conversions.

Here's a concrete example: You opened a Roth IRA five years ago and contributed $6,500 total over that time. Your account has grown to $9,200, meaning $2,700 is earnings. If you withdraw $7,000 today, the first $6,500 comes out as contributions (no tax, no penalty). The remaining $500 is treated as earnings. Since you're over the five-year mark, you can take that $500 earnings withdrawal penalty-free if you're also 59½ or older, or if you meet an exception.

If you have multiple Roth IRAs, the IRS adds up all your contributions across all accounts and all your earnings across all accounts, then applies the pro-rata rule to your total withdrawal. You cannot choose to withdraw from one account's earnings while leaving another account's contributions untouched.

Withdrawing earnings before 59½: the narrow exceptions

The IRS allows penalty-free (but not tax-free) withdrawal of Roth IRA earnings before age 59½ in only a few situations. You still owe income tax on the earnings, but you avoid the 10% penalty. These exceptions are: you're disabled, you're deceased (your beneficiary is withdrawing), you're withdrawing up to $10,000 for a first-time home purchase, or you're paying may have access to education expenses.

The disability exception requires that you be unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental condition expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. You'll need documentation from a doctor. The first-time home buyer exception caps the lifetime withdrawal at $10,000 and requires that you haven't owned a home in the past two years. Education expenses must be for you, your spouse, or your children or grandchildren, and they must be paid in the same year you withdraw.

These exceptions are narrow. A job loss, medical bill, or temporary hardship does not may have access to. If you withdraw earnings before 59½ outside these exceptions, you owe both the 10% penalty and income tax on the earnings amount.

The five-year rule: when it starts and what it means

The five-year holding period begins on January 1 of the tax year in which you open your first Roth IRA. It does not reset when you make new contributions or open new accounts. If you opened your first Roth IRA in 2019, the five-year period ends on January 1, 2024, and you can withdraw earnings penalty-free after that date (assuming you're 59½ or meet an exception).

This rule applies separately to Roth conversions. If you convert money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, that converted amount has its own five-year clock. You can withdraw the original contribution amount anytime, but the converted dollars must sit for five years before you can withdraw them penalty-free. Many people don't realize this, and it can trap money in a backdoor Roth conversion if they need it sooner than expected.

The five-year rule is about the account, not your age. You could be 70 years old and still subject to the penalty if you opened your first Roth IRA only two years ago and try to withdraw earnings.

Roth conversions and the pro-rata rule: a common trap

If you've done a backdoor Roth conversion or converted a traditional IRA to a Roth, the pro-rata rule can create an unexpected tax bill. The rule treats all your IRAs—traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE—as one account when you withdraw from a Roth. If you have a large traditional IRA balance and you convert a small amount to a Roth, then withdraw from the Roth, part of that withdrawal is taxed as if it came from your traditional IRA.

Example: You have a $100,000 traditional IRA and you convert $10,000 to a Roth. A year later, you withdraw $10,000 from the Roth. The pro-rata rule treats your withdrawal as 90% traditional IRA money (taxable) and 10% Roth conversion money (already taxed). You'll owe income tax on $9,000 of that withdrawal, even though you only withdrew from the Roth account. This is why financial advisors often recommend rolling traditional IRAs into a 401(k) before doing a backdoor Roth—it removes the traditional IRA balance from the pro-rata calculation.

Withdrawals at 59½ and older: the simple case

Once you reach age 59½ and have held your Roth IRA for at least five tax years, you can withdraw contributions and earnings completely tax-free and penalty-free. There is no required minimum distribution from a Roth IRA during your lifetime, so you can leave the money untouched as long as you want. Your beneficiaries will inherit the account tax-free, though they must begin taking distributions according to rules that depend on their relationship to you and when you died.

This is the main advantage of a Roth over a traditional IRA: may have access to withdrawals are entirely tax-free. You've already paid tax on the money going in, so the IRS doesn't tax it again on the way out. If you're 59½ and past the five-year mark, you have complete flexibility to withdraw as much or as little as you need.

Withdrawals for specific purposes: home purchase and education

You can withdraw up to $10,000 in earnings for a first-time home purchase without the 10% penalty, though you still owe income tax on the earnings. "First-time" means you haven't owned a home in the past two years; it doesn't mean you've never owned one. The $10,000 limit is a lifetime cap across all your Roth IRAs, and it applies to the earnings portion only—you can withdraw your contributions anytime without this limit.

For education expenses, you can withdraw earnings penalty-free (but not tax-free) if the money pays for may have access to education costs for you, your spouse, or your children or grandchildren. may have access to expenses include tuition, fees, books, supplies, and room and board if the student is at least half-time. The withdrawal must happen in the same tax year as the expense. If you receive a scholarship, you must reduce the withdrawal by the scholarship amount to avoid double-dipping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I withdraw my contributions without reporting it to the IRS?

Contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free, but you should still report the withdrawal on your tax return using Form 8606. The IRS tracks Roth IRA activity, and failing to report can create confusion if you're ever audited. Reporting is straightforward and takes a few minutes.

What happens if I withdraw earnings and don't meet the five-year rule?

You owe income tax on the earnings at your ordinary tax rate, plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty. If you're in the 22% tax bracket and withdraw $5,000 in earnings before the five-year mark, you'd owe roughly $1,100 in taxes and penalties combined. The penalty applies only to the earnings portion, not to your contributions.

Do I have to withdraw money from my Roth IRA at any point?

No. Unlike traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions during your lifetime. You can leave the money invested for as long as you want. Your beneficiaries will be required to take distributions after you die, but the rules depend on when you passed away and who inherits the account.

If I have multiple Roth IRAs, can I choose which one to withdraw from?

The IRS treats all your Roth IRAs as a single account for withdrawal purposes. You cannot designate one account as "contributions only" and another as "earnings." When you withdraw, the pro-rata rule applies across all your Roth accounts combined. You can physically withdraw from whichever account you choose, but the tax treatment is determined by your total contributions and earnings across all accounts.

Can I put the money back if I change my mind about a withdrawal?

Yes, through a process called a rollover. You have 60 days from the withdrawal to deposit the money back into a Roth IRA. However, you can only do this once per 12-month period across all your IRAs. If you miss the 60-day window, the withdrawal is permanent and counts against your contribution limit for that year if you try to re-deposit it.