When Can You Withdraw From Your Roth 401K? 
That is a great question ! Roth IRA 's are very withdrawal friendly , compared to other retirement plans . Simply put , your contributions can be withdrawn at any time without being taxed , as you paid the tax on those contributions before making them.Withdrawing your contributions is no different than taking it out of your savings account . It 's not income to take back your deposit . Your earnings , however , can be taxed under certain circumstances . To avoid them , your plan must be open for at least five years , and you must be at least 59 1/2 years of age . But ... even then there are reasons that you can pull earnings without being taxed - first time home buying , medical emergency payments , and qualified education expenses would not be taxed . Like I said , this is a very withdrawal friendly investment vehicle . So to recap : contributions can be taken tax free at any time . Earnings after 5 years , and if you are over 59 1/2 , unless it 's for a qualified expense . Remember that the purpose of your Roth is to generate earnings , and any withdrawal of funds from it early will have a very serious impact on that growth , so should be avoided if possible . This was a great question , thanks for asking it ! 