How to Withdraw From CalSavers: Steps, Costs, and Taxes

You can withdraw from CalSavers at any time by submitting a Distribution Request Form online through saver.calsavers.com, by phone, or by mail.¹ Because CalSavers is a Roth IRA, the money you contributed comes back out tax-free and penalty-free at any age; only the earnings portion can trigger income tax and, if you’re under 59½, a 10% federal penalty.² The account is yours, so you keep control regardless of whether you still work for the employer who enrolled you.³

How to Request a Withdrawal

Have two things ready before you start: your Social Security Number or ITIN, and your CalSavers account number. Both go on the Distribution Request Form.¹

On the form you’ll pick the type of distribution. The main choices are a normal distribution if you’re 59½ or older, an early withdrawal if you’re under 59½, or a disability-related distribution. You can request the full balance or a partial amount.

The fastest path is the participant portal at saver.calsavers.com, which walks you through a confirmation sequence and identity verification before processing begins. You can also call Client Services at 855-650-6918. If you’d rather submit on paper, mail the completed form to CalSavers, PO Box 55759, Boston, MA 02205-5759, or use the overnight address at 95 Wells Avenue, Suite 155, Newton, MA 02459.¹ Payment goes out by electronic bank transfer or mailed check.

What It Costs to Withdraw

CalSavers charges $5.00 if you want your distribution as a paper check. The fee is deducted before your funds are sent. If your balance is under $15.00, the paper check option isn’t available at all, and you’ll need to receive the money by electronic bank transfer instead.⁴

Taxes and any early-withdrawal penalty are separate from the check fee, and for most people they matter more than the $5. Those are covered below.

Taxes on What You Take Out

Your CalSavers contributions were made with after-tax dollars, so pulling those dollars back out has no federal or California tax consequence. The IRS applies ordering rules to Roth distributions: your regular contributions come out first, then any conversion amounts, and earnings come out last.² For many CalSavers participants the withdrawal is smaller than what they’ve contributed, which means the whole payment is just a return of their own money and none of it is taxed.

Earnings are the part that can be taxed. For earnings to come out completely tax-free, the distribution has to be qualified, and that means meeting both of these conditions:

Your Roth IRA has been open for at least five tax years, counting from January 1 of the year you first contributed.
You are at least 59½, permanently disabled, or using up to $10,000 for a first-time home purchase.

Meet both, and the entire withdrawal is tax-free. Miss either, and the earnings portion is added to your federal taxable income and taxed by California through the Franchise Tax Board. Knowing roughly how much of your balance is contributions versus growth is the simplest way to estimate the hit before you file the form.

The 10% Early Withdrawal Penalty

If you’re under 59½ and your withdrawal reaches into the earnings portion, the IRS adds a 10% penalty on top of regular income tax on those earnings.⁵ A 35-year-old who pulls out $2,000 in earnings would owe income tax on that $2,000 plus a $200 penalty.

Exceptions to the 10% Penalty

Several situations let you skip the 10% penalty even if you’re under 59½. Earnings are still taxable income in these cases; only the extra penalty is waived.⁶

Total and permanent disability under the IRS definition.
First-time home purchase, up to a $10,000 lifetime limit on earnings.
Birth or adoption of a child, up to $5,000 per child.
Unreimbursed medical expenses above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
Health insurance premiums paid after receiving unemployment compensation for at least 12 weeks.
Economic loss from a federally declared disaster, up to $22,000.
Domestic abuse victim distributions, up to the lesser of $10,000 or 50% of the account.
One emergency personal expense distribution per year, up to $1,000.
Substantially equal periodic payments taken over your life expectancy.

Claim the exception on IRS Form 5329 when you file your tax return for the year.

Moving Your Balance to Another Roth IRA Instead

If your goal is to leave CalSavers rather than spend the money, you can roll the balance into a Roth IRA at another brokerage.⁴ Two methods are available.

A direct transfer, sometimes called trustee-to-trustee, sends the money straight from CalSavers to the receiving institution. You never touch the funds, there’s no tax withholding, and no deadline applies.

An indirect rollover pays the money to you first. You then have 60 days to deposit it into the other Roth IRA. Miss that window and the IRS treats the earnings portion as a taxable distribution. The IRS also limits indirect rollovers to one per 12-month period across all your IRAs, Traditional and Roth combined.⁴ The direct method carries neither limit, which is why it’s the safer default.

Note If You Switched to a Traditional IRA

CalSavers defaults to a Roth IRA, but participants can switch to a Traditional IRA.³ If you made that switch, the tax picture flips: the entire withdrawal, contributions and earnings alike, is taxed as ordinary income when it comes out. The Roth ordering rules, the tax-free return of contributions, and the 5-year requirement described above don’t apply to a Traditional balance.

Stopping Contributions Is a Separate Step

Withdrawing doesn’t stop money from continuing to come out of your paycheck, and opting out of future contributions doesn’t move your existing balance. Those are two different requests. You can withdraw and keep contributing, opt out and leave the balance invested, or do both. To stop payroll deductions, opt out online at saver.calsavers.com, by phone at 855-650-6918, or by mailing the Opt-Out Form to the CalSavers address above. Once you confirm, CalSavers notifies your employer, and withholding generally stops before the next pay cycle and no later than 30 days after your request.⁷

1
CalSavers. Distribution Request Form
2
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B – Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements
3
Employment Development Department. CalSavers Retirement Savings Program
4
CalSavers. Withdrawal
5
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 557, Additional Tax on Early Distributions from Traditional and Roth IRAs
6
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
7
CalSavers. Frequently Asked Questions