Gold IRA Rollover Eligibility Matrix: Which Accounts Can Move, and When
Most articles answer gold IRA rollover eligibility one account at a time. This page puts every account type in one verified decision table: whether it can roll into a traditional gold IRA, what event unlocks it, and which withholding and timing rules apply on the way. Every cell is sourced to IRS or TSP primary pages, and the places where official sources conflict are flagged rather than papered over. Customers should speak to a financial or tax advisor before making decisions.
Educational only: This matrix summarises federal rules from IRS and TSP sources. Employer plans can impose their own distribution restrictions, so the plan document and administrator govern individual cases. This is not tax, legal or investment advice. Customers should speak to a financial or tax advisor before making decisions. Goldco does not offer tax or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Of the ten account types people ask about, six can roll into a traditional gold IRA, one qualifies only after a 2-year clock, two cannot roll in at all, and one is not listed by the IRS as an eligible source.
Source: IRS Rollover Chart (undated PDF), summarised on the IRS rollovers page last updated 31 May 2026. Eligibility also depends on a distributable event and the plan's own terms.
Key takeaways
- Pre-tax 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), TSP, traditional IRA and SEP IRA can all roll into a traditional gold IRA.
- SIMPLE IRAs wait 2 years from the first employer deposit — moving earlier is a distribution taxed at an increased 25% early-distribution rate.
- Roth IRAs cannot roll to a traditional IRA, and non-governmental 457(b) plans are not an eligible rollover source.
- Employer-plan eligibility needs both a permitted event (separation, age 59½, plan termination) and the plan document allowing it. The permitted events are set out in the 401(k) resource guide — general distribution rules.
- Indirect rollovers: 20% mandatory withholding from employer plans; 10% default (waivable) from IRAs; a 60-day deadline; and the once-per-12-months rule applies to IRA-to-IRA only.
The Eligibility Matrix: Every Account Type in One Table
Destination is a traditional (pre-tax) gold IRA. "Roth destination" notes where a Roth IRA differs. Direct trustee-to-trustee movement is assumed; indirect rollovers add the withholding and timing rules covered below.
| Source account | To traditional IRA? | Unlocking event (employer plans) | Roth IRA destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) / qualified plan (pre-tax) | Yes | Separation, age 59½ in-service (if plan allows), disability, plan termination. Hardship distributions cannot be rolled over. | Yes — taxable as a conversion |
| 403(b) (pre-tax) | Yes | Age 59½, severance, disability, death — the plan may, but need not, allow each. | Yes — taxable as a conversion |
| Governmental 457(b) | Yes | Severance; in-service age rules conflict between IRS pages and the statute — see the flag below. | Yes — taxable as a conversion |
| Non-governmental 457(b) | Not listed | Not an eligible rollover source: the IRS Rollover Chart lists only governmental 457(b). Assets stay employer property, movable only to another tax-exempt 457(b). | Not listed |
| TSP | Yes | Separation, or age-59½ in-service withdrawal while employed. | Yes — taxable portion included in income |
| Traditional IRA | Yes | None needed — no distributable event applies to IRAs. | Yes — a Roth conversion, taxable |
| SEP IRA | Yes | None needed — a SEP IRA is a traditional IRA for rollover purposes. | Yes — taxable as a conversion |
| SIMPLE IRA | Yes, after 2 years | The 2-year clock runs from the employer's first deposit. Earlier movement = distribution at an increased 25% early tax. | Yes, after 2 years — taxable |
| Roth IRA | No | A Roth IRA can only roll to another Roth IRA. TSP will not accept Roth IRA money either. | Yes (Roth to Roth) |
| Designated Roth account (Roth 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b)) | No | Rolls only to a Roth IRA or another designated Roth account — often conflated with the pre-tax 401(k) row. IRS Publication 590-A includes designated Roth accounts in 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans. | Yes |
A conflict worth knowing about — governmental 457(b) in-service age: two IRS topic pages list the in-service distribution age for governmental 457(b) plans as 70½, but 26 U.S. Code § 457(d)(1)(A)(i) as amended sets it at 59½ for governmental plans, with 70½ applying to tax-exempt plans. The IRS web pages appear not to have been updated since that change. This matrix therefore does not assert an in-service age for governmental 457(b); a participant should confirm with the plan administrator, and the statute is the controlling text.
Download the Eligibility Matrix (CSV)
What Actually Unlocks an Employer-Plan Rollover?
The single most common misunderstanding in this area is treating eligibility as automatic. For employer plans it is a two-key lock: federal rules must permit a distribution, and the plan document must offer it.
The 401(k) resource guide — general distribution rules lists the permitted events for elective deferrals — death, disability, severance from employment, plan termination without a successor, age 59½, and hardship — and consistently uses the phrase "a plan may, but is not required to, allow". A plan that offers no in-service distributions at 59½ is following the rules, and no custodian or dealer can override that. Hardship distributions, where offered, cannot be rolled over at all.
The practical consequence: the plan administrator's answer is the eligibility answer. This page tells a reader what to ask; the plan document decides.
Why Does the SIMPLE IRA 2-Year Rule Catch People?
Because the clock starts somewhere unexpected: the first day the employer deposits into the SIMPLE IRA — not the hire date, and not the plan's effective date.
During those 2 years, money may only move to another SIMPLE IRA. The statutory basis is 26 U.S. Code § 408(d)(3)(G), and the Internal Revenue Service states that a payment to a non-SIMPLE IRA in that window "is neither a tax-free trustee-to-trustee transfer nor a rollover contribution" — it is a distribution, included in gross income, with the early-distribution tax applying at an increased 25% rate rather than the usual 10%, unless an exception such as age 59½ applies.
After the 2 years, a SIMPLE IRA behaves like a traditional IRA for rollover purposes, including Roth conversion with income inclusion.
What Happens on an Indirect Rollover?
When a distribution is paid to the account holder rather than moved directly, three rules attach, and they differ by source:
- Employer plans withhold 20%, mandatorily. The IRS states a plan distribution paid to the participant carries 20% federal withholding "even if you intend to roll it over later". To complete a full rollover, the withheld amount must be made up from other funds within the deadline, or it becomes a taxable distribution itself.
- IRAs default to 10% — but it can be waived. An IRA distribution paid to the owner carries 10% withholding unless the owner elects out. This page states it precisely because the IRS page does: it is a waivable default, not "no withholding".
- The 60-day deadline applies to both, with a defined waiver process for circumstances such as institutional error.
Direct trustee-to-trustee movement avoids all three, which is why it is the standard route for a gold IRA rollover. The 401(k)-specific version of this analysis — the distributable-event gate, tax character by source and the direct-versus-participant-paid choice — is worked through on the 401(k) to Gold IRA rollover guide. The mechanics and common failure modes are covered in Gold IRA tax mistakes. And eligibility is only the way in — what happens when money or metal eventually comes back out, with its own timelines and fee layers, is benchmarked in the distribution benchmark.
Which Amounts Cannot Be Rolled Over at All?
Eligibility is not only about the account type. Some distributions cannot be rolled over whatever the destination, and the IRS keeps two separate lists. Confusing them is a common error, because the plan list is much longer than the IRA list.
From an IRA, the IRS states you can roll over all or part of any distribution except:
- a required minimum distribution; or
- a distribution of excess contributions and related earnings.
From an employer retirement plan, the excluded list is longer:
- required minimum distributions;
- loans treated as a distribution;
- hardship distributions;
- distributions of excess contributions and related earnings;
- a distribution that is one of a series of substantially equal payments;
- withdrawals electing out of automatic contribution arrangements;
- distributions to pay for accident, health or life insurance;
- dividends on employer securities; and
- S corporation allocations treated as deemed distributions.
The IRS calls what remains an eligible rollover distribution. The practical consequence for anyone funding a gold IRA: an RMD already due for the year cannot be moved into the new account. Attempting it does not make it disappear — it remains a taxable distribution, and an amount paid into an IRA that was never eligible can be treated as an excess contribution and taxed at 6% per year for as long as it stays there. (IRS: Rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions, checked 1 September 2026)
Where Does the Once-Per-Year Rule Actually Apply?
IRA-to-IRA indirect rollovers only. The IRS page is explicit that the limit excludes: rollovers from plans to IRAs, from IRAs to plans, plan-to-plan movements, trustee-to-trustee transfers, and traditional-to-Roth conversions.
Where it does apply, it aggregates across all of a person's IRAs — traditional, SEP and SIMPLE together — following Bobrow v. Commissioner and IRS Announcement 2014-32. One indirect IRA-to-IRA rollover per 12 months, total, not per account.
A footnote on the IRS Rollover Chart can mislead here: it attaches the once-per-year note to plan-to-IRA cells, but the prose page confirms plan-to-IRA rollovers are outside the limit. The footnote is best read as flagging the rule that attaches to the money once it is in an IRA.
A Note on the Sources
The anchor citation is the IRS Rollover Chart. It carries no printed revision date — its metadata suggests a 2016 vintage — but it remains linked from the IRS rollovers page, which was last reviewed 31 May 2026, and nothing has superseded it. This page therefore cites the chart for the grid and the dated prose pages for mechanics, and states the vintage rather than overclaiming currency.
Where an IRS topic page and the Internal Revenue Code conflict — as with the 457(b) in-service age — this page flags the conflict rather than silently picking a side. TSP-side rules are cited to tsp.gov and its dated booklet TSPBK12 (May 2024).
Reviewed and edited by Daniel M. — Editor, 401kToGoldIRA.org. Last verified: August 21, 2026.
Update History
- August 2026: Initial publication. All rules verified against live IRS and TSP pages; the governmental 457(b) in-service age conflict between IRS topic pages and IRC §457(d)(1)(A)(i) documented rather than resolved.
FAQ
Which retirement accounts can roll into a gold IRA?
Pre-tax 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), TSP, traditional IRA and SEP IRA balances can generally roll in. SIMPLE IRAs qualify after 2 years. Roth IRAs and non-governmental 457(b) plans cannot.
Can a rollover happen while still employed?
Sometimes — IRS rules permit in-service distributions at 59½ for 401(k) and 403(b) elective deferrals, but only if the plan offers them. Both keys must turn.
What is the SIMPLE IRA 2-year rule?
For 2 years from the employer's first deposit, a SIMPLE IRA may only move to another SIMPLE IRA. Breaking the window is a distribution with a 25% early tax unless an exception applies.
Can a Roth IRA fund a gold IRA?
Not a traditional one — Roth IRAs roll only to Roth IRAs. Holding metals in a self-directed Roth IRA is a separate arrangement funded from Roth sources, set out in the Roth Gold IRA guide.
How much withholding applies to an indirect rollover?
20% mandatory from employer plans; 10% default from IRAs, which the owner can elect out of; none for direct trustee-to-trustee movement.
Does the once-per-year rule block a 401(k) rollover?
No. It applies only to IRA-to-IRA indirect rollovers, aggregated across all of a person's IRAs.
Do income limits affect rollover eligibility?
No. Income limits govern annual contributions and traditional-IRA deductibility, not rollovers. The income limits guide covers that separate question.
