Roth Five-Year Rule Calculator
Which five-year clocks have run, and what would a Roth withdrawal cost today? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 6, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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The first year funded, age, the account's layers, and a withdrawal in; each clock's status and the tax and penalty on each layer of the withdrawal out. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- Money in a Roth IRA comes out tax-free only after two waiting periods are over. One clock starts the first year you ever put money in any Roth IRA, and once it has run five years it is done for good. Each conversion into a Roth has its own five-year clock, and taking converted money out before it runs, if you are under 59½, costs a 10 percent penalty. Withdrawals come out in a fixed order: your own contributions first, then conversions, then earnings. This tool shows the clocks and prices a withdrawal layer by layer.
- Why it matters.
- The two clocks are constantly confused, and the confusion goes both ways: people pay penalties they could have avoided, and people avoid withdrawals that would have cost nothing.
- An example.
- At 57, a withdrawal of $80,000 from a Roth holding $30,000 of contributions, a $40,000 conversion made two years ago, and $20,000 of earnings: the contributions come out free, the conversion carries a $4,000 penalty because its clock has not run, and the $10,000 of earnings reached is taxed plus a $1,000 penalty.
- Where it stops.
- It treats conversions as fully taxable when made, and covers only the age-based penalty exception. Inherited Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s, which have their own clocks, are not included.
The facts
Six quotable sentences on the two five-year clocks.
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- A Roth IRA distribution is qualified, and entirely tax-free, only if two things are true: five taxable years have passed since January 1 of the first year any Roth IRA was funded, and the owner is 59½, disabled, deceased, or buying a first home (§ 408A(d)(2)). A contribution made for 2025 by April 2026 starts the clock on January 1, 2025.
- That clock is one per person, not one per account: a Roth opened decades ago satisfies it for a Roth opened last year. It never restarts.
- Each conversion has its own five-year clock for a different purpose: converted dollars withdrawn within five taxable years of the conversion, before 59½, carry the 10 percent additional tax as if they were taxable (§ 408A(d)(3)(F)). At 59½ that clock stops mattering; the income tax on the conversion was already paid.
- Withdrawals come out in a fixed order: regular contributions first, then conversions oldest first (the taxable part of each before its nontaxable part), then earnings (§ 408A(d)(4)). Contributions are never taxed or penalized; earnings are the only layer that can be taxed.
- So a nonqualified withdrawal is often costless: as long as it stays within contributions and seasoned conversions, nothing is owed. Only reaching the earnings layer before both conditions are met produces tax, and a penalty before 59½.
- After 59½ with a young account, earnings withdrawn are taxable as ordinary income but not penalized; the fix is to wait for the clock, which runs from the first year any Roth was funded, including by conversion.
What a withdrawal costs, by layer
The four cases for each of the three layers.
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| Layer | Under 59½, clock not run | Under 59½, clock run | 59½ or older, clock not run | 59½ or older, clock run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| A conversion, within 5 years of it | 10% penalty | 10% penalty | Free | Free |
| A conversion, 5 years on | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Earnings | Taxed + 10% penalty | Taxed + 10% penalty | Taxed, no penalty | Free (qualified) |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Roth Five-Year Rule Calculator," reviewed September 6, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#facts
- By layer https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#key-numbers
- How the clocks work https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/roth-five-year-rule#revision-history
Everything here reads from one reviewed record, so a copied piece carries its year and its review date. When the law moves, the embed updates by itself; a copied table or chart keeps the year in its caption. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.