# Withdrawal age of joint Roth IRA

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 13, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180 "2021-06-13T17:20:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Astrocreep2K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce73a5/32.png) [@Astrocreep2K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrocreep2K)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/1 "2021-06-13T17:20:36Z")

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Been having a hard time using search engines to get the exact answer I need. If you and your spouse have a joint acct, when can you start drawing? When one or both of you reach 59.5?

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/2 "2021-06-13T17:37:05Z")

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I’ve never heard of a joint IRA, it’s an individual retirement account.

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**Author:** ![Astrocreep2K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce73a5/32.png) [@Astrocreep2K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrocreep2K)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/3 "2021-06-13T17:39:29Z")

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You’re right, I was under the impression it was a thing because you always hear the contribution limits for an individual, or double that for a couple. My bad.

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**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/4 "2021-06-13T21:12:48Z")

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Yes. You can’t do it. Any IRA is for an individual only. Husband and wife each have their own.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/5 "2021-06-14T00:44:39Z")

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And to finish answering the question explicitly, each spouse may draw from their own IRA starting when they become 59-1/2 regardless of the age of the other spouse.

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**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/withdrawal-age-of-joint-roth-ira/944180/6 "2021-06-14T13:49:53Z")

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There are also some ways you can get money out of the Roth IRA early:

1. You are allowed to withdraw your contributions from a Roth. So if you put $1000 in your Roth and it grows to $1500, you can pull the $1000 out. This is unique to a Roth IRA. A normal IRA doesn’t have this feature.
2. Withdraw under the “Substantially Equal Periodic Payment” rule. The [SEPP](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sepp.asp) is a way where you can take a fixed $X out of the account per year up to 5 years before you reach 59½. $X is decided by you and must be the same for each year.