Check if a 401(k) withdrawal after leaving your job at 55 avoids the 10% early tax
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 29 Sept 2026.Enter your date of birth, the date you leave the job and the withdrawal date. Under the rule of 55, withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) avoid the 10% additional tax if you leave in or after the calendar year you turn 55, or 50 for public safety workers. The rule never applies to IRAs.
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 29 Sept 2026); they may have changed since.
Enter your "Date of birth", the "Date you leave (or left) the job" and the "Date of the withdrawal".
Under "Money is in", pick the employer plan or IRA.
Under "Your job", keep "Most employees (age 55)" unless you work in public safety.
Enter the "Taxable amount to withdraw".
Read whether the 10% additional tax applies and the "Earliest qualifying separation", then press Share result.
Withdrawals from a 401(k) or other employer plan before age 59½ usually owe a 10% additional tax on top of income tax. The "rule of 55" is the IRS exception in section 72(t)(2)(A)(v): if you separate from service during or after the year you reach age 55, withdrawals from that plan after you leave are free of the 10%. This calculator checks your dates against the rule.
The calendar year is what counts. You do not have to be 55 on the day you leave. Leave in March of the year you turn 55 in August and you qualify. Leave in December of the year before, and you do not, and waiting until 55 to withdraw does not fix it. Publication 575 gives the example of George, who left at 49 and withdrew at 55: no exception.
Public safety workers: 50, or 25 years. For qualified public safety employees in a governmental plan, and for private-sector firefighters, corrections officers, federal law enforcement officers, customs and border protection officers, federal firefighters and air traffic controllers, the age is 50, or 25 years of service under the plan if that comes first (section 72(t)(10), Publication 575).
Not for IRAs. The exception covers employer plans only. Money rolled from the 401(k) into an IRA follows IRA rules, where this exception does not exist, so a rollover can switch the 10% back on.
At 59½ it stops mattering. From six months after your 59th birthday the 10% no longer applies to any account; the calculator shows that date.
What this does not do: check other exceptions (disability, substantially equal payments, medical costs), the income tax itself, or whether your plan allows partial withdrawals. Ask your plan administrator. An estimate, not tax advice.
The rule of 55 is an exception to the 10% additional tax on early withdrawals. If you leave your job during or after the calendar year you turn 55, withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) or other qualified plan made after you leave do not owe the 10%. Income tax is still due on them.
Yes, as long as you turn 55 later in the same calendar year. The test is the year you separate from service, not your age on the day. Someone born in August 1971 who leaves in March 2026 qualifies, because 2026 is the year of the 55th birthday.
No. The IRS lists the separation-from-service exception as applying to qualified employer plans, not IRAs. Rolling the 401(k) into an IRA therefore removes the exception for that money. Before age 59½, an IRA withdrawal owes the 10% unless a different exception, such as substantially equal periodic payments, applies.
The exception does not apply. Publication 575 says you must separate from service in or after the year you reach 55 and cannot separate before that year. Leaving at 52 means withdrawals before age 59½ owe the 10% unless another exception, such as a 72(t) payment plan, is used.
Qualified public safety employees in a governmental plan, private-sector firefighters, corrections officers, federal law enforcement officers, customs and border protection officers, federal firefighters and air traffic controllers. For them the age is 50, or 25 years of service under the plan if reached earlier, according to Publication 575.
Yes. The rule removes only the 10% additional tax. Pre-tax money withdrawn is still taxed as ordinary income in the year it is taken, and plans usually withhold 20% for federal tax on a payment that could have been rolled over. Roth money follows its own rules.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about Rule of 55 Calculator and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
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