[USER]

Due to unforeseen circumstances I need to withdraw funds from my Roth IRA. Being under age 59 1/2, I’d like to withdraw just contribution dollars (not earnings) to avoid penalties and fees.

I know the dollar amount I’ve contributed to the Roth IRA over the years, but after my divorce, part of the account was transferred to ex-spouse via a qualified transfer.

My question now is, how do I figure what my contribution dollars are since part of the account was transferred? I simply want to know how much of my existing account is considered contributions vs how much is considered earnings.

I called and spoke with several people from Fidelity and they could not give me a straight answer.

[Don]

Ask the company who holds the account. Vanguard, etc

[Craig]

I’m no tax expert, but have recently researched/executed contribution withdraws to pay for my retirement home construction. If it was a ‘qualified’ transfer, that does not change your contribution total.

Ex: say you contribute $100K over the last 20 years and your account balance grows to $250K.

If your and your ex takes half ($125K) as a qualified transfer in a divorce settlement, you still have $100K of contributions in your name that you already paid taxes on and can withdraw without tax or penalties.

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[Bryan]

Look at the tax summary, should show money in and then gains or losses.

[Author]

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