How Many IRA Rollovers Can You Do in a Year?

You may want to move money from one IRA to another to get a better return on your investment. Be aware that the IRS has specific rules regarding the number of rollovers you can perform.

Definition

Transferring money between one retirement account and another is called a rollover. Rollovers can occur from your 401k plan into an IRA, or from one of your IRA accounts to another.

Limitation

The IRS has imposed a limit of one rollover per year for each of your IRA accounts. Keep in mind that this limitation is per account, not a total number of rollovers. You may conduct as many rollovers per year as you have IRA accounts.

Time Frame

You must deposit rollover money into another IRA within sixty days. You will be subjected to taxes and early withdrawals penalties if you fail to do so.

Example

Let's say you have two traditional IRA accounts. You rollover part (or all) of IRA #1 into a new account which becomes IRA #3. You may not rollover any additional monies into or out of either IRA #1 or IRA #3 for 365 days. Your IRA #2 is unaffected and not subjected to the 365-day limit.

Considerations

This 365-day rule only applies to IRA-to-IRA rollovers. Direct rollovers that occur between one trustee and another are not limited by this rule. Also, rollover distributions from tax-sheltered annuities or qualified retirement plans are unaffected by this IRS regulation.

References

• Common IRA Rollover Mistakes
• IRA and Retirement Account Rollovers
• IRA FAQs