Here's some good news that surprises a lot of people. If you turned 72 in 2025 or 2026, you might not owe any Required Minimum Distributions yet. A Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) is the amount the IRS forces you to pull out of your retirement accounts each year once you hit a certain age. For decades that age was 70½, then 72. But the SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act of 2022 — usually called SECURE 2.0 — bumped it to 73 for most people retiring now. So turning 72 doesn't trigger anything. Your first RMD waits until the year you turn 73.
There's a second wrinkle that trips people up. If you're still working, your employer's retirement plan — like a 401(k) or 403(b) — may not require RMDs at all while you stay on the job. That's the "still working" exception. It feels like a loophole, and people naturally wonder: can I just shove my other retirement money into my work plan and dodge RMDs on all of it?
That's exactly what one person tried. They turned 72, were still employed, and wanted to roll their Traditional IRA and SEP IRA into their 403(b) to skip RMDs. Fidelity told them their plan doesn't allow incoming IRA rollovers. The frustrating part: some plans do allow this, and others don't. Let's unpack why, and what you can actually do.
Your RMD start age is probably 73, not 72
Under SECURE 2.0, the RMD starting age depends on your birth year. If you were born between 1951 and 1959, your RMDs begin at 73. If you were born in 1960 or later, they don't start until 75 (that later age kicks in starting in 2033).
So if you turned 72 in 2026, you were born in 1954. Your RMDs start at 73 — which is next year, in 2027. You have a full year before the first required withdrawal. That breathing room matters, because it's prime time for the planning moves we'll cover below.
One more detail worth knowing. Your very first RMD has a special deadline. You can delay it until April 1 of the year after you turn 73. After that, every RMD is due by December 31. Delaying that first one sounds nice, but it means taking two RMDs in the same calendar year, which can spike your taxable income. Most people just take the first one on time.
The "still working" exception only covers one plan — never your IRAs
This is the heart of the confusion, so let's be precise.
The still-working exception applies to your current employer's workplace plan. If you're still employed by the company that sponsors your 401(k) or 403(b), and you don't own 5% or more of that company, you can delay RMDs from that specific plan until you actually retire. That's it.
It does not cover your IRAs. Traditional IRAs and SEP IRAs are subject to RMDs starting at your RMD age (73 for most people today), whether you're working or not. Employment status is irrelevant for IRAs. There's no still-working exception for them. Ever.
It also doesn't cover old 401(k)s from past jobs. If you've got a 403(b) sitting at a former employer, the still-working rule at your new job doesn't protect that old account. RMDs apply to it normally.
Here's a quick reference for which accounts the still-working exception can touch:
| Account type | Still-working exception applies? |
|---|---|
| Your current employer's plan (401(k)/403(b)), if you own <5% of the company | Yes — RMDs deferred while you keep working |
| Traditional IRA / SEP IRA | Never — RMDs start at your RMD age regardless of employment |
| Old employer plan from a former job | No — RMDs apply normally |
So the strategy of "roll my IRA into my active 403(b) so the still-working exception swallows it" can work in theory. Once the money lives inside your current employer's plan, it rides along under that plan's still-working exception. But understand exactly what that buys you: the exception defers RMDs, it does not eliminate them. The day you leave the job, the entire 403(b) — including the IRA money you rolled in — becomes RMD-subject, and your first RMD is due by April 1 of the year after you retire (or your RMD age, whichever is later). The rollover never makes that money permanently RMD-free; it just delays the clock until you stop working. And it only works at all if the plan will accept the rollover in the first place. That's where this person hit a wall.
Why some 403(b) plans accept IRA rollovers and others don't
Here's the key insight: this is a plan design choice, not an IRS rule.
The IRS permits a Traditional or SEP IRA (the pre-tax money in it) to be rolled into a 403(b) or 401(k). The tax code allows it. But allowing it and requiring it are two different things. Each employer writes its own plan document — the rulebook for that specific plan. The employer decides whether to accept incoming rollovers, and from what kinds of accounts.
Plenty of plans say no to incoming IRA rollovers. Why? It's extra administrative work and recordkeeping for the plan sponsor, with no real benefit to them. Some plans accept rollovers only from other employer plans, not from IRAs. Some accept nothing at all. It's their call.
So when Fidelity said the plan doesn't allow it, Fidelity wasn't enforcing an IRS rule. They were enforcing that employer's plan document. There's no appeal to the IRS here, because the IRS isn't the one saying no.
What can you actually do? A few things are worth a look:
- Ask the plan administrator (often HR) directly whether the plan can be amended to accept rollovers. Sometimes the answer in the brochure is outdated, and sometimes employers will update the plan if asked.
- Check whether a different account type qualifies. Note that Roth IRAs cannot be rolled into an employer plan at all — only pre-tax IRA money is eligible.
- If the plan truly won't budge, pivot to the strategies below, which don't depend on anyone's plan document.
Strategies that shrink RMDs without needing a rollover
If you can't roll your IRA into a 403(b), you're not stuck. There are two strong moves, and the best window for both is before RMDs start.
Roth conversions before RMD age. A Roth conversion means moving money from a Traditional or SEP IRA into a Roth IRA and paying ordinary income tax on the amount you convert. Once it's in the Roth, it grows tax-free, and — this is the big one — a Roth IRA has no RMDs during the owner's lifetime. Every dollar you convert is a dollar that never gets hit by a future RMD.
The trick is doing it in your lower-income years. If you're 72 and not yet taking RMDs, your taxable income may be unusually low right now. That's the moment to convert. You "fill up" the lower tax brackets at today's rates instead of letting that money balloon and force big taxable RMDs later. This is exactly the kind of trade-off worth modeling carefully, which is what the calculator below is for.
One important caveat at age 72: don't size your conversion off income-tax brackets alone. A conversion adds to your MAGI, and that has two ripple effects you're already exposed to on Medicare. First, IRMAA — Medicare Part B and Part D premium surcharges are set by your MAGI from two years prior, so a big conversion this year can raise your premiums in 2028. The 2026 surcharges kick in above $109,000 MAGI (single) or $218,000 (married filing jointly), and the jumps are steep — Part B alone goes from $202.90 to $284.06 a month at the first tier. Second, Social Security taxation — as your provisional income rises, more of your benefit becomes taxable (up to 85% once combined income tops $34,000 single / $44,000 MFJ). The genuinely optimal conversion amount is the one that fills the bracket without tripping the next IRMAA tier or needlessly dragging more of your Social Security into taxable income — which is why it's worth modeling rather than eyeballing.
Qualified Charitable Distributions. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) lets you send money straight from your IRA to a qualified charity. You're eligible starting at age 70½. For 2026, you can give up to $111,000 per person this way ($222,000 for a married couple where each spouse has their own IRA). The money goes directly to the charity — it never lands on your tax return as income.
Here's why QCDs are powerful: a QCD counts toward satisfying your RMD. So if you're charitably inclined, you can meet your RMD obligation and pay zero tax on that portion. It comes off the top, before the income even shows up. For people who give to charity anyway, this beats taking the RMD as cash and donating separately.
A worked example: $400,000 at age 72
Let's make this concrete. Say you've got $400,000 in a Traditional IRA, you turned 72 in 2026 (born 1954), and you're married filing jointly.
In 2026, you owe no RMD. None. Your start age is 73.
In 2027, the year you turn 73, the first RMD lands. The IRS calculates it using the Uniform Lifetime Table. At age 73, the divisor is 27.4. You take your account balance from the prior December 31 and divide. Using the $400,000 figure for illustration:
$400,000 ÷ 27.4 = about $14,599
That $14,599 is your required withdrawal, and it's taxable as ordinary income. For a married couple with the 2026 standard deduction of $32,200 and income that stays in the 12% bracket (taxable income up to $100,800 for 2026), the tax on that RMD is modest. But the RMD grows each year as the divisor shrinks — 26.5 at 74, 25.6 at 75 — and it stacks on top of Social Security and any other income.
Now bring in the QCD. Suppose you donate to your church or a charity each year. You could route up to $111,000 (2026 limit) directly from the IRA as a QCD. Your RMD is only about $14,599, so a QCD of even $14,599 wipes out the entire taxable RMD. The required withdrawal is satisfied, and not a dollar of it shows up as income. If you'd otherwise give that money to charity anyway, this is close to free.
And the Roth conversion angle: in 2026, while you have no RMD, you might convert, say, $40,000 from the Traditional IRA to a Roth. You'd pay tax on it now at today's bracket. But that $40,000 — plus all its future growth — is permanently out of the RMD machine. Do this for a few years and you meaningfully shrink the balance that future RMDs are calculated against.
Putting it together
Here's how the three moves stack up side by side:
| Strategy | What it does to RMDs | Eligibility / age | Depends on plan document? |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRA → active 403(b) rollover | Defers RMDs on the rolled money while you keep working; they resume when you retire | Must be currently employed, own <5% of the company | Yes — plan must accept incoming IRA rollovers (many don't) |
| Roth conversion | Permanently removes the converted balance (and its growth) from future RMDs — Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs | Any age; best done in low-income years before RMDs begin | No |
| Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) | Satisfies your RMD tax-free, up to the annual limit | Age 70½+ | No |
The honest answer to "can I roll my IRA into my 403(b) to dodge RMDs?" is: only if your specific plan allows incoming IRA rollovers, and many don't. It's the employer's choice, not the IRS's. So don't count on it.
But you've got better-controlled tools. The still-working exception already shields your current 403(b). Your IRAs need a different plan: Roth conversions in your low-income years before 73, and QCDs once RMDs begin if you give to charity. Both shrink your future required withdrawals on your terms, with no dependence on anyone's plan document.
The single highest-leverage move for most people in this spot is the Roth conversion window between retirement (or now) and age 73. Getting the amount right — converting enough to matter without bumping yourself into a higher bracket — is a numbers problem. Run your own figures with the [Roth conversion calculator](/calculators/roth-conversion) to see how much you could convert each year, what it costs in tax today, and how much RMD you'd erase down the road.