Can You Do a Roth Conversion After Age 73? (w/Examples) + FAQs

This article reflects federal tax rules as of June 2026 and covers tax year 2026 (with 2025 figures noted where they apply). State rules are summarized generally. Tax law changes often — confirm current figures with the IRS or a licensed professional before you act.

Quick Answer

Yes. You can do a Roth conversion at any age, including after 73 — there is no upper age limit. But if you are 73 or older, you must take your full required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year first, and that RMD amount itself can never be converted. The conversion is fully taxable.

If you are 73 or older, the rule you cannot ignore is this: your RMD comes out before any conversion, every year, and the IRS treats the first dollars you withdraw as your RMD. Convert before you satisfy that RMD and you create an excess contribution in your Roth IRA, which carries its own 6% annual penalty until you fix it.

That ordering rule is the single most expensive mistake older converters make, and it has a hard December 31 deadline. The IRS confirms there is no age cap on conversions, yet a large share of retirees still convert in the wrong order — and roughly 1 in 5 IRA owners miss or mis-handle some part of their RMD each year, according to industry RMD-compliance estimates. Getting the sequence right is what separates a smart tax move from a penalty.

Here is what you will learn:

• ✅ The exact order — RMD first, conversion second — and why the IRS forces it
• 💰 Worked dollar examples showing the real tax and Medicare cost of converting at 74
• ⚠️ The 7 mistakes that turn a smart conversion into a penalty or a surprise bill
• 🏥 How a conversion can spike your Medicare (IRMAA) premiums two years later
• 🗺️ Whether your state taxes the conversion — and which states do not

What a Roth Conversion Actually Is

A Roth conversion moves money from a pre-tax retirement account — a traditional IRA, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA, or a 401(k) — into a Roth IRA. You pay ordinary income tax on every pre-tax dollar you move in the year you move it. In exchange, that money grows tax-free, and qualified withdrawals later are tax-free.

The appeal for someone past 73 is not about their own short-term savings. It is about three things: shrinking future RMDs (Roth IRAs have no RMDs during the owner’s lifetime), lowering a surviving spouse’s future tax bill, and leaving heirs a tax-free account. A traditional IRA passed to a non-spouse heir now must usually be emptied within 10 years under the SECURE Act, often during the heir’s peak earning years; a Roth removes that tax sting.

The catch is that a conversion is a taxable event, not a distribution. That distinction drives almost every rule below. Because a Roth conversion is not counted as an RMD, you cannot use a conversion to satisfy your required distribution — you must do both, in the right order.

Why There Is No Age Limit

Congress removed the age cap on Roth conversions decades ago, and the SECURE Act also repealed the old age limit on contributing to a traditional IRA. So a 78-year-old with earned income can contribute, and a 90-year-old can convert. The only thing age changes is the RMD obligation that now rides alongside the conversion.

The consequence of this freedom is that the decision becomes about math and timing, not eligibility. You are never blocked from converting — you are only ever choosing whether the tax cost today beats the tax cost later. That makes the worked examples below the heart of this article.

The Key Players and Forms

Three forms do the heavy lifting. Form 1099-R reports the distribution from your traditional IRA. Form 8606 reports the conversion and tracks any after-tax (basis) dollars so you are not taxed twice. Form 5498 reports the conversion landing in your Roth IRA.

If you ever miss an RMD, Form 5329 reports the shortfall and the excise penalty. The IRS is the controlling agency, your custodian (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard) executes the transfer, and the SECURE Act 2.0 is the law that sets the current RMD age of 73.

The RMD-First Rule — The Spine of Everything

This is the rule that matters most after 73, so it gets the most space. Once you reach your required beginning date, the IRS applies the “first-dollars-out” rule: the first money you take from a traditional IRA in any year is treated as your RMD until the full RMD is satisfied. Because an RMD can never be rolled over or converted, you must withdraw and keep (or spend) the RMD before you convert a single dollar.

Fidelity states plainly that if you are 73 or older, you must take your RMD for the year before you convert. Skip that step and the dollars you “converted” that should have been your RMD become an excess contribution to your Roth IRA. An excess contribution is taxed at 6% per year for every year it stays in the account until you remove it.

Here is a real-world picture. Margaret, 75, has a $40,000 RMD due for 2026. She wants to convert $60,000. She must first withdraw the $40,000 RMD (taxable, stays out of the Roth), then she may convert the additional $60,000 (also taxable). Her total taxable income from these moves is $100,000 — but only $60,000 lands in the Roth.

A common misconception is that “I’ll just convert $60,000 and call the first $40,000 my RMD.” That does not work. The conversion and the RMD are separate acts, and the IRS does not let a conversion double as a distribution. What you should do: confirm your exact RMD with your custodian in January, take it (or set up automatic withdrawal), and only then convert.

What Happens If You Convert Before the RMD

If you convert before satisfying the RMD, two problems stack. First, your RMD is still unsatisfied, exposing you to the missed-RMD penalty. Second, the over-converted amount is an excess Roth contribution subject to the 6% annual excise tax.

The fix is to withdraw the excess (plus earnings) before your tax-filing deadline, or recharacterize where allowed, and to take the true RMD immediately. Acting fast matters because both penalties compound by the year.

The Missed-RMD Penalty After SECURE 2.0

Under SECURE Act 2.0, the penalty for a missed RMD dropped from 50% to 25% of the shortfall, and to 10% if you correct it within two years and file Form 5329. So a missed $40,000 RMD can cost $10,000 (25%) or $4,000 (10% if promptly fixed) on top of the regular income tax.

The deadline is December 31 each year, except your very first RMD, which you may delay to April 1 of the following year. The next step if you slip: take the missed amount immediately, file Form 5329, and attach a reasonable-cause statement requesting a waiver.

Which Situation Applies to You?

The right move depends entirely on your circumstances. Use this to find the part that fits you.

• You are 73–74 and just starting RMDs: Your first RMD can be delayed to April 1 of next year, but doubling up two RMDs in one year can spike your bracket — read the timing section.
• You are 75+ in a high-income year: A large conversion may push you into IRMAA territory; weigh the Medicare cost in the worked example below.
• You are in a temporary low-income year (e.g., before a pension or Social Security peaks): This is often the best time to convert above your RMD; see the bracket-filling example.
• You are converting for a spouse or heirs, not yourself: Focus on the legacy example and the survivor-tax math.
• You live in a no-income-tax state: Your conversion cost is federal-only; see the state section.

Worked Examples With Real Dollars

Numbers make this concrete. These use 2026 federal brackets and standard figures; your situation will differ, so treat them as a template you can copy.

Example 1 — Bracket-Filling in a Low-Income Year

Robert, 74, single, has a $30,000 RMD and otherwise expects $50,000 of taxable income for 2026. After his RMD, his taxable income is about $80,000. The top of the 2026 22% federal bracket for single filers sits near $103,350.

Robert takes his $30,000 RMD first. He then converts about $23,000 more — filling the rest of the 22% bracket without spilling into 24%. He pays roughly 22% (about $5,060) on the converted $23,000, moving that money into a Roth where it will never face an RMD again. The strategy: convert only up to the top of your current bracket.

Example 2 — A Conversion That Triggers IRMAA

Susan, 76, married filing jointly, has household MAGI of $200,000 after her RMD. She converts $50,000, lifting MAGI to $250,000. That conversion pushes her past the 2026 IRMAA threshold of $218,000 for joint filers.

Because IRMAA looks back two years, in 2028 both spouses pay a Medicare surcharge on top of the standard 2026 Part B premium of $202.90 per month. A surcharge of roughly $1,100+ per person, per year, for Part B and Part D combined, is a real cost the conversion caused. Lesson: model the IRMAA cliff before you convert; staying $1 under a bracket can save thousands.

Example 3 — Converting for Heirs and a Surviving Spouse

The Chens, both 73, have a $1.2 million traditional IRA and want to protect their daughter, a high earner. If they leave the traditional IRA, their daughter must drain it within 10 years under the SECURE Act, likely taxed in her 32% bracket — roughly $384,000 of tax on $1.2 million.

By converting $80,000 a year for several years at their own lower retirement rates (say 22–24%), the Chens pay tax now so their daughter inherits a Roth she can stretch tax-free for 10 years. The strategy trades a known, lower tax today for a much larger, deferred tax their heir would otherwise owe.

How a Conversion Affects Your Taxes Beyond the Bracket

A conversion raises your MAGI, and MAGI quietly drives several other costs. It can increase the taxable portion of your Social Security, trigger the IRMAA Medicare surcharge two years out, and reduce or eliminate the new senior deduction.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), a new bonus senior deduction of up to $6,000 per person age 65+ ($12,000 for a qualifying couple) is available for tax years 2025 through 2028 only. It phases out at 6% of MAGI above $75,000 single / $150,000 joint, and disappears entirely above $175,000 single / $250,000 joint. A large conversion can wipe out this deduction in the very years it exists, so converting under the phase-out can preserve it.

The Five-Year Rule Still Applies After 73

Each Roth conversion starts its own five-year clock for penalty-free access to the converted principal. For someone over 59½, the 10% early-withdrawal penalty does not apply, so the conversion five-year rule rarely bites a 73-year-old on principal.

But the earnings five-year rule matters for tax-free growth and for heirs. If you are unsure whether your Roth has met the five-year aging requirement, open even a small Roth early so the clock is already running before larger conversions.

Three Common Scenarios

Scenario A — Convert in a low-income gap year

What You Do	What It Costs or Saves
Take RMD, then convert up to the top of the 22% bracket	Locks in a low rate; shrinks future RMDs permanently
Convert more than the bracket allows	Spills into 24%+; may trigger IRMAA and lose the senior deduction

Scenario B — Convert too much in one year

What You Do	What It Costs or Saves
Convert a large lump sum after the RMD	Higher bracket now, plus a two-year-later IRMAA surcharge
Spread the same total over several years	Smoother brackets, lower IRMAA risk, preserves senior deduction

Scenario C — Convert before taking the RMD

What You Do	What It Costs or Saves
Convert first, RMD second	Creates an excess Roth contribution taxed 6% per year
Take RMD first, convert second	Compliant; no penalty; conversion proceeds cleanly

Federal vs. State — Does Your State Tax the Conversion?

Start with federal: every pre-tax dollar you convert is ordinary income on your federal return, taxed at your marginal rate. That is true in all 50 states. The state overlay is where it varies.

Most states with an income tax treat a conversion as taxable income, just like the IRS does. But nine states have no income tax — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — so a resident there pays no state tax on the conversion (New Hampshire taxes only certain investment income, not IRA conversions). If you are planning a multi-year conversion and a move is on the table, converting after establishing residency in a no-tax state can save the entire state tax bill.

When State Conformity Diverges

A handful of states do not conform fully to federal retirement rules or offer special retirement-income exclusions, so the state-taxable amount can differ from the federal amount. Many states also do not follow the new federal senior deduction, so that OBBBA break may help your federal return but not your state return.

The consequence of guessing wrong is an underpayment notice from your state. The next step: check your state Department of Revenue page for how IRA conversions and retirement income are taxed before you convert a large amount.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Converting before taking your RMD. Creates an excess Roth contribution taxed 6% per year until removed.
• Assuming the conversion counts as your RMD. It does not; you still owe the full RMD and risk the 25% missed-RMD penalty.
• Ignoring IRMAA. A conversion can raise Medicare premiums two years later by $1,000+ per person.
• Converting too much in one year. Pushes you into a higher bracket and can erase the senior deduction.
• Forgetting state tax. A large conversion in a high-tax state adds a state bill you may not have withheld for.
• Using IRA funds to pay the conversion tax. Withdrawing extra to cover taxes shrinks the amount that grows tax-free and may add penalties if under 59½ (not an issue at 73, but it still wastes the benefit).
• Doubling up two RMDs in year one. Delaying your first RMD to April 1 means two RMDs in one calendar year — a bracket spike that can swamp a conversion’s benefit.
• Missing the December 31 deadline. Conversions are credited in the year the money leaves the traditional IRA; there is no prior-year “do-over” for conversions.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do: – Take your full RMD first, every year — it is the law and it protects the conversion. – Convert only up to the top of your current tax bracket to control the rate. – Model IRMAA two years out before converting, because the surcharge follows your income. – Keep Form 8606 records so basis is tracked and you are not taxed twice. – Consider partial multi-year conversions to smooth the tax hit.

Don’t: – Don’t convert your RMD amount — it is legally ineligible and becomes an excess contribution. – Don’t ignore how the conversion raises taxable Social Security. – Don’t forget the December 31 deadline for that tax year’s conversion. – Don’t assume your state mirrors federal treatment of retirement income. – Don’t convert a large sum the same year you start two RMDs without running the math.

Pros and Cons

Pros: – Eliminates future RMDs on the converted balance, since Roth IRAs have none for the owner. – Locks in today’s tax rate, valuable if you expect higher rates or higher future income. – Leaves heirs a tax-free account, sparing them the 10-year taxable drawdown. – Reduces a surviving spouse’s future tax burden when they file single. – Provides a tax-free bucket to manage future IRMAA and bracket thresholds.

Cons: – You pay tax now, reducing current cash or investments. – A large conversion can trigger IRMAA surcharges and lost senior deductions. – It can raise the taxable portion of Social Security in the conversion year. – The benefit may not pay off if your future tax rate is lower than today’s. – State tax can add a meaningful cost in high-tax states.

When to Call a Professional

A small conversion that stays within your current bracket is something many retirees handle themselves with their custodian’s help. The situation gets complex fast when the conversion is large, spans multiple years, interacts with IRMAA or Social Security, or is part of an estate plan for heirs.

In those cases, a CPA or a fee-only financial planner can run a multi-year tax projection — usually a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars — that often pays for itself by avoiding a bracket or IRMAA cliff. This article is educational and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your situation.

What to Do Next

1. Confirm your RMD. Ask your custodian for your exact 2026 RMD figure in January.
2. Take the RMD first. Withdraw it (or automate it) before you convert anything.
3. Map your bracket. Find the top of your current federal bracket and your IRMAA threshold.
4. Convert up to your target. Instruct your custodian to convert only up to that ceiling.
5. Withhold or set aside the tax. Pay the conversion tax from non-IRA funds if you can.
6. Keep the paperwork. File Form 8606 with your return and save your 1099-R and 5498.
7. Reassess yearly. Revisit the plan each year as income, brackets, and laws shift.

FAQs

Is there an age limit for a Roth conversion? No. There is no upper age limit. You can convert at 73, 80, or 95. Age only adds the requirement to take your RMD first each year before converting.

Do I have to take my RMD before converting? Yes. At 73 or older, the first dollars out of your traditional IRA count as your RMD, and you must satisfy the full RMD before converting any amount for that year.

Can a Roth conversion count as my RMD? No. A conversion is a taxable event, not a distribution. It cannot satisfy your RMD, so you must do both separately in the same year.

What is the penalty for missing an RMD in 2026? 25% of the shortfall, reduced to 10% if you correct it within two years and file Form 5329 — down from the old 50% penalty under SECURE Act 2.0.

At what age do RMDs start now? Age 73 for those who reach 73 after 2022. It rises to age 75 for people born in 1960 or later, under SECURE Act 2.0.

Does a Roth IRA have RMDs? No. A Roth IRA has no RMDs during the original owner’s lifetime, which is a main reason retirees convert. Inherited Roth IRAs, however, do have distribution rules.

How is a Roth conversion taxed? As ordinary income in the year of the conversion. Every pre-tax dollar converted is added to your taxable income at your marginal federal rate, plus any state tax.

Can a conversion raise my Medicare premiums? Yes. A conversion raises MAGI, and IRMAA uses your income from two years prior. In 2026, surcharges begin above $109,000 single or $218,000 joint.

Will a conversion hurt my new senior deduction? Yes, it can. The OBBBA senior deduction phases out above $75,000 single / $150,000 joint MAGI and disappears above $175,000 / $250,000, for tax years 2025 through 2028.

What is the deadline to convert for a given year? December 31. A conversion counts in the calendar year the money leaves your traditional IRA. Unlike contributions, there is no April-15 prior-year option for conversions.

Do I pay state tax on a Roth conversion? Usually yes, in states with an income tax. But nine no-income-tax states — including Florida, Texas, and Nevada — impose no state tax on the converted amount.

Should I use IRA money to pay the conversion tax? Generally no. Paying the tax from outside funds keeps the full converted balance growing tax-free and avoids shrinking the long-term benefit of the conversion.