The article states that:
“Of course, you can change the beneficiary of the 529 plan and then roll over the money into the new beneficiary’s Roth IRA.”

As I read this here, the beneficiary must remain the same for 15 years to roll over, so if you change the beneficiary to perform a roll over to an IRA, you must also wait 15 years before you do the rollover. The article text seems to gloss over / omit the required 15 year wait.

529 plan rollover contributions are subject to the annual IRA contribution limit, which is based on earned income, and subtracted from the limit.

However, they are not subject to any AGI limitations. The 529 plan to Roth IRA rollover provisions appear in section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. In particular, paragraph 126(b)(2)(B), WAIVER OF ROTH IRA INCOME LIMITATION, exempts the rollover from the limits based on AGI that appear in 26 USC 408A(c)(3).

So, the conflicting information may be due to one referring to earned income limitations and the other referring to AGI limitations. As such, there is no conflict.

And here’s another reliable source saying the same thing, that “the beneficiary must have earned income equal to at least as much as the amount transferred in any year.” SavingForCollege, https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/roll-over-529-plan-funds-to-a-roth-ira

Hi Chelsea, I have a reliable source (Journal of Accountancy, https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2023/jul/the-new-529-rollover-roth-ira.html) which states that even though the upper income limits don’t apply (i.e., you can do a 529-to-Roth rollover even if income is over the applicable threshold), the “beneficiary must have earned income, and the amount that can be rolled over is the lesser of earned income or the IRA contribution limit. Therefore, if the beneficiary is not working, no rollover is available because there is no earned income.“