Can I roll a 403(b) or 457(b) into an IRA, and how is it different from a 401(k)?

By Kaz · Published 6 October 2026 · How this site checks figures

Summary

Yes for a 403(b) and for a governmental 457(b); no for a 457(b) sponsored by a tax-exempt organization, which the IRS lists as unable to roll over into other eligible retirement plans. A 403(b) moves the same way a 401(k) does. A governmental 457(b) moves too, but it has something an IRA lacks: withdrawals before 59½ carry no 10% additional tax, and that protection stays behind when the money leaves.

Start with which 457(b) it is

There are two kinds, and the IRS keeps a side-by-side comparison of them. On "Rollovers to other eligible retirement plans," the tax-exempt column says "No" and the governmental column says "Yes." The plan document or summary plan description names the sponsor. If it's a state or local government entity, you have the kind that can roll over.

The tax-exempt kind is different in another way too. The same comparison says those plans are taxed on the "Earlier of when made available or distribution," where a governmental plan is taxed on "Distribution." Money in a tax-exempt 457(b) can be taxed in the year it is made available to you, whether or not you take it.

The 10% tax a governmental 457(b) doesn't charge

The IRS's model rollover notice for 2026, Notice 2026-13, spells it out: if the plan is a governmental 457(b) and you don't roll over, "you won't have to pay the 10% additional tax on early distributions from the Plan even if you are under age 59½." The next sentence is the catch: "if you do a rollover to an IRA or to an employer plan that isn't a governmental section 457(b) plan, a later distribution made before age 59½ will be subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions (unless an exception applies)."

Here's what that's worth in an example. Someone leaves a city job at 52 with $160,000 in the governmental 457(b) and plans to take $20,000 a year for seven years, ages 52 through 58, before other income starts.

Where the $140,000 comes from	10% additional tax
Left in the governmental 457(b)	$0
Rolled to an IRA first, then withdrawn, no exception	$14,000

Income tax is owed in both rows. Only the second has the $14,000.

There is one exception inside the exception. The notice excludes payments "from a separate account holding rollover contributions that were made to the Plan from a tax-qualified plan, a section 403(b) plan, or an IRA." If you once rolled a 401(k) or an IRA into the 457(b), that portion is held separately, and withdrawals from it can draw the 10% tax even while it's still in the 457(b).

A 403(b) works like a 401(k)

The IRS rollover chart treats pretax 403(b) money the same way as a pretax 401(k): it can go to a traditional IRA, to a Roth IRA as a taxable conversion, to another 403(b), to a 401(k) or other qualified plan, or to a governmental 457(b). The 60-day deadline and the 20% withholding on a check made out to you apply in the same way.

One difference shows up later, at required minimum distribution age. The IRS lets you total the RMDs for several 403(b) contracts and take the sum from any one of them, as you can across IRAs. RMDs from 401(k) and 457(b) plans "must be taken separately from each of those plan accounts." The first RMD page works through what that means in dollars.

Before you move either one

Ask the plan four things in writing:

Is this 457(b) governmental or sponsored by a tax-exempt organization?
Does any of my 457(b) balance sit in a separate account for money I rolled in?
Is any of my 403(b) money held in an annuity contract, and does moving it trigger a charge from the insurer?
Can I take partial withdrawals after I leave, or only a single lump sum?

The last answer decides whether keeping the 457(b) open for penalty-free withdrawals is practical. The page on the 10% early withdrawal tax lists the exceptions that would still be available after a move to an IRA, and the comparison of rollover IRA providers covers where the money can go.

Sources

Written by Kaz, an independent publisher.
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