United States law generally allows any pre-tax IRA funds to be rolled into any other type of retirement plan, such as a qualified plan, 403(b) annuity, or Section 457 plan maintained by a state or other political subdivision.

This is called "qualified plan portability."

Funds in various qualified arrangements — such as qualified plans, 403(b) arrangements and Section 457 plans — can be rolled into any other type of arrangement, rather than merely IRAs. Section 457 arrangements of state governments can accept rollover contributions, and distributions from such arrangements as well as after-tax employee contributions to qualified plans and 403(b)s can be rolled over.

Although the rules for rollover contributions are liberal, rollovers are not possible if the individual cannot receive a distribution from the plan or if the recipient plan does not authorize acceptance of the rollover contribution.