Convert to a Roth IRA?
Monday February 9, 2009
If there's a silver lining in a down economy, it's that a lower income and a smaller portfolio could make this an ideal time to do a Roth IRA conversion. Of course, this conversion comes with a cost: voluntarily paying taxes now. Still, converting your qualified retirement account (like a traditional IRA or old 401(k) plan) to a Roth IRA could be a smart move. Although the tax due may be significant, learn the key considerations before making your decision.
Any plans to make a Roth IRA conversion in 2009? Why or why not?
Any plans to make a Roth IRA conversion in 2009? Why or why not?
Should you convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
Wouldn’t you know it─the answer is it depends. What does it depend on? More variables than you can shake a stick at. After running the numbers to determine if conversions made sense, I was shocked and it reminded me that many times articles written by others and FREE calculators are simply not accurate.
Let me make the general statement that, if you are in the same or lower tax bracket when in retirement, converting to a Roth IRA is NOT going to make economic sense.
To read an article showing you the “real world” math behind why Roth IRA conversions do not make sense, please go to http://www.thewpi.org/?a=PG:1198.
I buy reg IRA’s. Now we make over 109,000 a year and do not get a tax break.
Should I covert over to Roth IRA’s from now on and also transfer 2008 reg IRA’s to Roth?
Why wait to experience losses before converting to a Roth? Isn’t best suppossed to be best regardless, of the time?