Do You Have to Take Your RMD Before Converting to a Roth IRA?
For account holders who are past the age when required withdrawals kick in, combining a required distribution with a Roth conversion in the same year involves a specific ordering rule that’s easy to overlook.
The short answer
In any year a required minimum distribution (RMD) applies, that RMD amount must be withdrawn from the traditional IRA before any additional funds from that account can be converted to a Roth IRA. The RMD itself cannot be converted — it has to come out as a regular, taxable distribution first, and only amounts beyond the RMD are eligible to be moved into a Roth IRA through a conversion.
Why RMDs and conversions can end up in the same year
Once an account holder reaches the age at which required minimum distributions begin, the traditional IRA no longer allows the balance to simply sit and grow — a minimum amount has to come out every year, whether or not the money is needed. Some people in this stage of life also want to keep converting portions of their remaining traditional IRA balance to a Roth IRA, often as part of a longer-term conversion plan. When both are happening in the same year, the order in which they occur isn’t optional.
Why the RMD portion is off-limits for conversion
The rule is straightforward but easy to miss: the required minimum distribution for that year cannot itself be converted to a Roth IRA. It has to be withdrawn as an ordinary, taxable distribution — the same as if no conversion were happening at all. Only once the full RMD has been satisfied can any additional withdrawal from that traditional IRA be directed into a Roth IRA as a conversion. Trying to convert before fully taking the RMD is treated as not having satisfied the RMD, which carries its own consequences.
What the correct sequence looks like
In practice, this means the account holder, or whoever is managing the withdrawals, needs to calculate and withdraw the full RMD amount first, treating it as a standard distribution, and only afterward process any further amount as a Roth conversion. The two transactions are taxed the same way — both add to that year’s taxable income — but they’re accounted for differently, and getting the order backward can create complications when the account holder is trying to demonstrate the RMD was properly satisfied.
Why getting this wrong matters
Missing an RMD, including by improperly trying to convert it, can trigger a penalty on the amount that should have been withdrawn but wasn’t. Because the rules around RMDs — including the age at which they start and how they’re calculated — are set by the government and have changed more than once in recent years, it’s worth confirming current requirements rather than relying on rules that may have applied in an earlier year, and treating “RMD first, conversion second” as the baseline sequence to check against.
The takeaway
When a required minimum distribution and a Roth conversion fall in the same year, the RMD has to come out first, as a standard taxable withdrawal, before any additional amount from that account can be converted. It’s a sequencing rule rather than a matter of preference, and getting it backward can undermine the RMD requirement even if the total amount withdrawn from the account looks correct.